Sage's Apprentice
by AlyssaFoxAH
Summary: The D. Gray-Man universe is twisted around in all sorts of ways! There's OC's with new forms of innocence (Mnemonic Type), curses and spells, romance, mystery, and Sages! And who the heck is Silverton? Read to find out more! (better to read on deviantART )
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note- **

**This story will have my D. Gray-Man OCs in it. I know some people don't like OCs, but I hope you all give this a try. Characters take time to develop and this story takes the readers on the same journey as everyone in the story. Little by little, you will learn about the new characters and how they behave and think. I did NOT write this like one of those "copy-and-paste-your-character" fanfics. This is an alternate DGM world where Allen is not the main character anymore. Now, you take a look into the mind of someone new.**

**...**

"Lavi-kun! Over here!"  
"No, over HERE! Play with me, Lavi-kun!"  
"My turn, Lavi!"

There he was, the bookman's successor, showered in women calling his name as far as the eye could see…

"Lavi-kun!"  
"Lavi, come here!"  
"Lavi!"  
"LAVI!"  
"Wake up, Damnit!"  
"DEKE!"

Suddenly all the women disappeared and were replaced by a single old man with a grumpy expression as Lavi opened his eyes.

"You red-haired fool! How could you over sleep on a day as important as this!" the Bookman nagged.

Lavi rubbed his eyes and pouted. "What's so important that you stole me away from such paradise?! Dreams like that should never have to end…Not that YOU'D understand…Ol' panda…"

Bookman wacked Lavi on the back of the head and yelled, "How many times must I tell you not to call me that?! Hmph. Shame on you for prioritizing worthless dreams over a meeting with the Sage of Life."

"What's so special about this 'Sage' guy anyway? I don't remember anyone like that showing up in history before…" Lavi said with a yawn.

"That's because the sages like to remain hidden, particularly from the Bookman Clan," Stated the panda. "They're job isn't to change history in any way, but to 'hold the universe together' so to speak. This is a great honor to have an audience requested by one. This is our chance to learn more about the great sages. We will depart at 12 pm. DO NOT be late."

-12:13 pm…-

"He's late…"

"You're one to talk, beansprout!"

"I was hungry still! I had 5 less helpings of food just so I would make it here at a decent time!"

Bookman sat in the back of the boat listening to the two young men argue while he checked the time. "Where could that brat possibly-"

Suddenly a familiar voice came from the shadows.

"…wwwaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAIIIIT! Don't leave! I'm here!" Lavi hollered. Allen and Kanda both turned their attention away from eachother and watched as Lavi ran towards them panting like a dog.

"WHAT took you so long, you eye-patched fool!? You should have been here 13 minutes ago! We can't afford to keep the sage waiting!" said Bookman.

Lavi stopped and put his hands on his knees while catching his breath. "Sorry…I just had to…what are Yu and Allen doing here…?"

Before anyone could answer, Kanda pointed Mugen to Lavi's throat. "Do not call me that, damnit! I will slice you apart next time I hear you say my name!"

"It seems the Sage may be concerned about Hevlaska's prophecy for Allen Walker," the panda stated. "In the message we received, he claims his apprentice is curious as well for the rapid development of innocence within Mr. Walker. However, I do not know why Kanda will be joining us today…"

Kanda grunted. "It was an order from General Tiedoll that I go to meet the Sage and his apprentice. He didn't give me the reason."

Despite his curiosity, Bookman trusted Tiedoll's decision. "Very well then. Get in the boat, Lavi. We're leaving now."

Lavi did as he was told and hopped in the boat between Kanda and Allen, keeping them separated.

"So…who exactly is this Sage person?" Allen asked Bookman as the boat floated down the canal.

"Supposedly, the Sages are responsible for keeping balance in the universe. They are of the few humans who are blessed with the ability to harness and manipulate the world's elements, then again, these are just rumors. There has never been any actual proof that anyone has such an ability." Bookman explained, trying to ignore that Lavi wasn't listening. "The person we are meeting with claims to be the Sage of Life, therefore possessing the power to harness and manipulate life itself."

Kanda punched Lavi in the gut as he realized he had been braiding his hair the whole time Bookman was talking. "You said the sages controlled the elements. How is life itself an element?"

"The elements the sages deal with are supposed to include more than just the typical fire, wind, water, and earth." Lavi said, rubbing his stomache. "They deal with four other elements besides just those. Ain't that right, Gramps?"

Bookman scoffed at him. "I see you did pay some attention to the briefing yesterday. The four remaining elements are light, darkness, life and death. Life and death being the most powerful of the elements that are controlled by sages. What powers they possess are still a bit of a mystery, however."

"That's why it's so important that members of the bookman clan confirm this with their own eyes. But still…"

"Still…what, Lavi?" Allen asked.

Lavi scratched his head. "Ah, it's nothing…" Lavi then began thinking to himself, *"_What was the real reason we were called to meet this guy..? It doesn't make sense why a sage would avoid contact with the bookman for so long and then suddenly request to meet us…why is he concerned about Allen..? Why did General Tiedoll order Yu to meet this guy..? It seems like there's something more going on here than just the bookmen and the sages…but I can't figure what._"*


	2. Chapter 2

CH 2

It was around 7 pm and Bookman, Lavi, Allen, and Kanda were headed for the town where they were scheduled to meet up with a legendary person called the Sage of Life who had requested their audience. It was the middle of spring and the four had been walking in the foggy weather for over six hours just to reach their destination.

"This 'Sage' guy better not be some kind of joke…We've been walking for hours! My feet are killing me…I'm starting to think this town doesn't even exist…" the young bookman jr. complained.

Allen's stomach grumbled. "I hear you…I haven't eaten since lunch…They better have something to eat ready when we get there…"

Kanda, who hadn't even broken a sweat, scoffed at them. "How pathetic. You should have just stayed home, beansprout."

"My name's Allen! Ugh…It's not like I wanted to go, but he specifically asked to meet me and I don't want to be rude."

"It's not like he would've missed much if you stayed at HQ."

"Pfft…says the guy who doesn't even have a reason to be here!"

Lavi stepped between them and wrapped his arms over each of their shoulders. "Hey now, let's just try to get along, eh?" He said with a grin. Allen brushed Lavi's arm off his shoulder and Kanda elbowed him in the chest. "Lighten up, Yu!"

Before Kanda could cut Lavi in half, Bookman said with a map in-hand, "This should be our destination up ahead." As he pointed to a large town much farther down the path.

Delighted, Lavi yelled "Alright! Finally I don't have to walk anymore!" He then pulled out his hammer and prepared to extend towards the town. "You guys coming?"

Allen grabbed onto the hammer and Bookman did the same. Kanda kept on walking.

"Kanda! It'll take too long if we keep walking!" Allen yelled to the arrogant exorcist.

Kanda said without looking back, "No way I'm going to fly on that hammer with a beansprout and a retarded rabbit."

Lavi smirked. "Aww…c'mon, Yu! You're not scared of heights are you? No? Ah, well I guess you can't help but be a little intimidated being so close to someone as gorgeous as me!"

"Tsk…"

Lavi began extending his hammer with Bookman and Allen on board. When he looked back, he held back his laughter when he saw Kanda hanging on as well.

They'd arrived at the town of Earthridge where they were scheduled to meet the Sage. The townspeople were out and about and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Children were playing tag, merchants were lively as ever and wagons rolled through the streets.

"Check this place out!" stated Lavi.

"This seems like a nice town. I'm not detecting even a single akuma either."

"Why don't you sight see for a while then, beansprout. In fact, why don't you make me a flower tiara while you're at it." Kanda stated with plenty of sarcasm.

Allen rolled up his sleeves. "Why you little-" Lavi held him back before things got ugly.

Bookman wacked them all in the face. "All of you, knock it off! We need to be at the Sage's residence in 10 minutes and you brats are wasting our time!" Allen, Kanda, and Lavi stayed quiet and watched as he approached one of the local merchants and asked them for directions.

-9 minutes later-

Bookman opened the gate in the fence to the Sage's residence. The four walked up the path that led to the front door. All along the edges of the path were flowers that were blooming and small garden patches that were well taken care of.

As the group approached the beautiful house, Lavi thought he saw someone standing in one of the windows on the second story, but chose not to say anything.

Bookman reached to knock on the door, but before he got the chance, the door opened. The person on the other side of the door was an elderly man with large glasses, a white beard, and a twig tied in his hair. The man noticed the crest on all of their coats immediately. "Come in, please." He said with an inviting smile.

As they made their way inside, Allen chose to break the ice. "Your home is lovely, sir. The same goes for the garden outside." He spoke, returning the smile he was given.

The old man chuckled. "Ah, yes. Well, if I couldn't take care of one measly garden, what kind of Life Sage would I be?"

Bookman respectively bowed to him and said "It is an honor to meet you, sir. I am the bookman and this is my apprentice. We've also brought Allen Walker at your request, sir." He then held out his hand for him to shake.

The man laughed a bit and politely shook it. "No need to address me as 'sir'. Not even my apprentice calls me that. You may call me Tsamo Esagel." He then shook hands with Lavi and Allen. "And who might you be, young man?" He spoke to Kanda.

"I was told to meet you by General Tiedoll." Kanda stated without shaking his hand.

Tsamo smiled and replied, "I asked you who you were, not who's orders you were following."

"K-Kanda."

"That's more like it. Pleasure meeting you, Kanda."

"Tsk."


	3. Chapter 3

CH 3

After receiving a letter, Bookman, Lavi, and Allen travelled to the town of Earthridge to meet the legendary Sage of Life while accompanied by Kanda, who was given orders to join them by his master, General Tiedoll, for unknown reasons. The four of them successfully managed to get to the Sage's home, where Lavi thought he'd seen someone standing in the window of the second floor, but chose to ignore it. They then continued on to meet the Sage, Tsamo Esagel, an elderly man with good manners and a warm smile to match. They all then got comfortable in the main room and began conversing.

"It is to my understanding that the Sage's abilities are focused on the balance of elements." Bookman immediately wanted answers about the Sages for his records.

"That is correct. As a sage, it is my responsibility to maintain unity amongst the elements, just like every sage before me and every sage that will exist after my time has passed." Tsamo pulled a book from a shelf and flipped through the pages. "Ah, here we are," he said as he handed the book to Bookman. "This is information on every known Sage to have existed. Up until now, records like these have only been seen by Sages, such as myself, or apprentices."

Bookman scanned the page with his eyes, careful not to miss any bit of history the Sage was willing to reveal to him. "It seems that every Sage has been a relative of the previous Sage…"

"Ah, yes. The powers we possess are in fact passed down through generations." Tsamo explained. "You may also notice that the genders of the Sages will alternate with every generation."

"I see…"

Kanda slouched in the chair and sighed. He really had no interest in Sages or records. He thought to himself, *"_Why the hell would the General want me to come here? I don't see what business I have in a place like-_"*

"So…Kanda, was it?"

"Wuh?" Kanda looked at Tsamo, who'd interrupted his train of thought. "Uh, yeah..?"

The Sage smiled. "Since Froi Tiedoll ordered you to come here, you must be his disciple, correct? How is he these days?"

"How do you know him?" Kanda questioned.

Tsamo pointed to a picture on the wall of what appeared to be Tiedoll and Tsamo at a younger age, maybe in their late 20's to mid 30's. "Froi and I go way back. When he joined the Black Order I had already been announced the next Sage of Life, but I couldn't tell him that. For the longest time, he insisted I was an accommodator of innocence as well, but that wasn't the case."

Kanda thought, *"_Don't tell me…he only wanted me here so I could meet his childhood friend…_"*

Bookman started asking more questions and the Sage was glad to answer them. Kanda was irritated at Tiedoll and kept clenching his fist. Allen watched and tried to listen and understand. He'd noticed that Lavi had been standing behind the chair Bookman was sitting in without saying a word. He was completely spacing out.

"Uhm, excuse me, sir...er, Tsamo…" Allen began. "I was told you wanted to meet me…to talk about my innocence or something?"

"My apprentice takes an interest in the Black Order. When word got out that your innocence had been developing rapidly at such a young age, and Hevlaska had given you the prophecy of 'Destroyer of Time,' my apprentice insisted on meeting you, Allen Walker…Finds you very intriguing and special, with which I agree."

Allen blushed a bit and scratched the back of his neck. "Oh, well that's flattering and all, but…I'm really not all that great, honest."

"Damn right…" Kanda added.

Allen let his evil side show and said, "Sorry? I didn't hear that. Why don't you repeat that to my face? 'Eh, pretty boy?"

"That a challenge, beansprout?"

Bookman sighed. "You'll have to excuse those two, they don't exactly see eye to eye…" He then noticed Lavi spacing out and yanked his collar down to get his attention. "Looks like you'll have to excuse HIM as well…"

Tsamo nervously laughed. "You young men are welcome to walk about my home, if you like. If there's anyone in the world I'd trust other than my apprentice or my own family, it would be exorcists of the Black Order. Besides, I'm sure my apprentice would be happy to meet you three."

Allen stopped bickering with Kanda and said, "I didn't know he was here. Where could we find him?"

Tsamo answered, "Probably in the first room on the left when you walk up these stairs. If not there, you may want to check the room at the end of the upstairs hallway."

Allen got up and walked up the stairs followed by Kanda, who wanted to see if this apprentice knew anything about the Sage's relationship with General Tiedoll. Lavi started to go up behind them, but was stopped by Bookman.

"Where do you think you're going off to? If you're ever going to become a bookman, you'd better learn to take interest in something other than yourself. The information this man is giving us is very importa-"

"No, no. Let him go, too. Besides, I'm sure a bookman with your experience can record this without his help." Tsamo said with a smile.

When Allen made it to the upper level, he went straight to the first door on the left, just as the Sage had suggested, and knocked. When he didn't get an answer, he called out, "Uhm, excuse me, is anyone in there? My name is Allen Walker. I'm with the Black Order…"

Kanda walked up from behind him and tried turning the knob. "It's locked."

Lavi, who had just joined them, went and peeked in the room at the end of the hall. "Hello? ...I don't see anyone in here either, guys."

"I'll handle this…" said Kanda, who then readied to kick the door down.

Allen franticly yelled, "KANDA! Don't!" and jumped in front of the door to block Kanda's kick.

Lavi knew that Kanda would just kick Allen INTO the door to break it down anyway, so he did what seemed best at the time and tackled Kanda before he could damage the Sage's house…and Allen's face.

"The hell?! Get off me!" Kanda shoved Lavi away and got up off the ground.

"Don't just break it down because he didn't answer! Maybe he's sleeping or something. It's not like he did anything wrong…" Allen pleaded.

Kanda grunted. "I've got some questions to ask that guy. He'd better open up and stop ignoring me."

"We all do, I'm sure." Lavi began. "We can't assume we're being ignored. Chill out, Yu."

"DO NOT-!"

Allen pushed Kanda out of the way and asked, "What's in that room at the end of the hall, Lavi?"

"Tsk."

Lavi glanced back at the room. "Looked like some kind of dojo."

The three of them walked down the hall and into the room. "Dumbass. It's a room meant for meditation. They have one at HQ too." Kanda said observing his surroundings.

Allen walked up to the large window and looked out at the town. Then, he said the word. The one word that makes all exorcists spring into action… "Akuma!"


	4. Chapter 4

CH 4

Bookman, Lavi, Allen, and Kanda met the Sage of Life, Tsamo Esagel, after being invited to his home by him and his apprentice. Kanda discovered that Tsamo knew General Tiedoll for many years, but still never found why the General sent him to meet the sage. Allen found out that it wasn't the Sage who was interested in meeting him, but his apprentice. Lavi remained curious of the figure he'd seen in the window, rather than recording history. While Bookman was busy getting answers from the Sage, the three young men searched Tsamo's house for his apprentice, who was supposedly behind a locked door in the upstairs area. Then, Allen looked out a window to get a look at the town when he saw something that alerted Kanda and Lavi…

"Akuma!"

Kanda flung the window open and jumped out of it into the garden below.

"Where's it at, Allen?" Lavi said.

Allen pointed to a small schoolyard where children were happily playing, unaware of the danger that was so close by.

Without hesitating, Kanda jumped over the fence and darted off towards the schoolyard. Lavi grabbed Allen and chanted, "Size-shifting hammer, EXTEND!" and they both flew off right behind Kanda.

Allen kept his left eye activated, refusing to let the akuma out of his sight. "It's that teacher! He's the aku-!"

Suddenly, the teacher, who was surrounded by his students, split apart into thousands of pieces. The children squealed and ran away as they watched his chunks of skin and bone fall to the ground, cut cleanly into squares, drenched in blood and gore. The remains then exploded, and Allen watched as the soul was released from its chains.

Kanda, Lavi, and Allen all looked at each other in silence. None of them had even activated their innocence yet other than Lavi, who had been using it to extend. They looked to see if there had been another exorcist in the area, but anyone who had been nearby had already screamed and ran away, like the kids in the schoolyard had. Allen then made them aware that there were no more akuma in the area.

Confused and concerned, the three of them returned to the Sage's residence. Kanda had burst through the door first, only to see the Bookman and the Sage still chattering, not noticing they had ever even left.

"What the devil..?" Bookman spoke. "I thought you three went upstairs to find the Sage's apprentice."

"I'm sorry, sir," Allen walked in behind Kanda. "There was an akuma in the town…"

Tsamo took a sip of his coffee from a mug. "Akuma, eh? How did that go?" He spoke so calmly, it made Kanda suspicious.

Allen hesitated for a moment. "Actually…"

"We weren't the one's who destroyed the akuma." Lavi stated.

"The akuma was destroyed, but none of us had anything to do with it. However, it didn't destroy itself, if that had happened, the soul bound to it would've been destroyed as well. I saw with my own eyes that salvation was brought to its soul."

Bookman pondered. "If it wasn't one of you, then who exactly was it?"

Tsamo sipped his coffee again. "Perhaps the town folk saw something you overlooked."

-5 minutes later-

"Are you sure you didn't see anything?" Lavi spoke to an old woman in a house nearby.

"Nothing at all…Nothing but silver…" The woman spoke. Then she slammed the door in Lavi's face.

Lavi blinked. "Silver..?"

"Hey, Lavi!" Allen's voice called out as he ran towards the bookman jr. "Did you find anything?"

"I may have." Kanda joined up with them. " I asked several people who were in the area and all of them said they didn't see anything but 'silver'. What the hell is that supposed to mean…"

"I know! I know!" a little boy pranced up to them. "It was Silverton!"

Allen kneeled down beside the boy, who didn't seem frightened at all. "Who is Silverton? If you know anything, it would help us."

"Silverton is this thing who shows up when the monsters come to our town! You never really see it, but if you're lucky, you'll see a streak of silver light right before it slays the monster!" the eager boy explained. "Most people are scared of it, but it's not a bad guy! It saved me from a monster! It picked me up and flew me away before the monster could eat me!"

Lavi and Kanda looked at each other. "What did it look like?" Lavi asked.

"I TOLD you! You can't see it! It's just a streak of silver light! Nothing but silver." The boy then ran off after his mother called his name. "You gotta find Silverton! It's like, the coolest thing ever!"

Allen stood up. "Well, now what do we do?"

"Isn't it obvious? We need to find this thing called 'Silverton'." Kanda said. "if it's destroying akuma…"

"Then innocence has to be involved, right Allen?"

"Right, Lavi."

Kanda thought back to how Tsamo had acted earlier. *"_He didn't seem very concerned…He spoke so calmly about the akuma being destroyed…That old man knows something…_"*


	5. Chapter 5

CH 5

After Allen, Lavi, and Kanda looked for the Sage's apprentice but came up empty, Allen noticed an akuma in a schoolyard in town. The three of them rushed out to destroy it, but before they got the chance, the akuma was destroyed by an unseen force. When they went back to inform Bookman, Kanda couldn't help but notice how calmly Tsamo had been acting regarding the akuma's destruction. The three of them went back into town to search for answers, but every witness said they saw nothing but 'silver'. They then met a young boy who claimed the one who destroyed the akuma was something called 'Silverton' that moves too quickly to see it clearly, leaving behind nothing but a silver streak of light behind wherever it went. The three of them knew innocence had something to do with it, but Kanda suspected the Sage was hiding something from them.

After questioning the townspeople for hours, Lavi, Kanda, and Allen were headed back to the Sage's residence. Allen's stomach was growling the whole time on the way there. He whimpered pitifully, "…hungry…"

"How can you seriously be thinking about food at a time like this? We've got more important things to worry about, beansprout!" Kanda snapped after listening to the whining for so long.

"Ugh…hungry…I wonder if bean sprouts taste good…" Allen continued.

"Tsk…Pathetic."

Lavi, Kanda, and a starving moyashi began walking up the path to the Sage's home. Kanda had planned to barge in and demand information from Tsamo on this 'Silverton' thing, but didn't get the chance. Once they'd reached the front door, they found Tsamo standing in wait for their arrival. "Welcome back, boys. How did the town search go?"

Kanda jumped on the opportunity. "Tell me what you know abou-"

"Come in, come in! I've prepared quite a meal for my guests!" Tsamo peered at Allen, who was clenching his stomach. "Bookman here tells me you have quite the appetite, Mr. Walker."

Allen's face lit up like a child's at a toy store. "You have FOOD!"

They all walked in the dining room and sat at the large table that was covered in food. Allen immediately began stuffing his face with one of everything. Lavi did just the opposite. He was being quiet and spacing out again, poking his food with his fork. Kanda ate the food in front of him to be polite, but would rather eat soba instead. They all sat there in this awkward silence, hearing nothing but Allen choking down everything on the table.

Bookman looked around. "Will your apprentice be joining us this evening?"

Tsamo wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Unfortunately, my apprentice can be a bit shy and has chosen not to dine with us. I apologize for their lack of involvement."

Lavi thought to himself, *"_I wonder if the figure I saw in the window was his apprentice…maybe we scared him off somehow…probably thanks to Yu's grumpy face._"* Lavi then caught himself smirking to the thought of someone turning to stone from looking Kanda in the eyes.

"You're a quiet fellow, aren't you? You and my apprentice would get along well." Tsamo said to Lavi, who was still twiddling with his fork.

Bookman laughed for once. "Believe me, he doesn't typically act so calmly. He'd definitely be more vibrant if you had a daughter his age."

"Actually, it just so happens I do have a daughter his age. Her name is Kyrine. She's supposed to take up being the next Life Sage." said Tsamo with the slightest glare towards Lavi, who was still smirking.

Allen, who'd already cleared half the table, said, "She's going to take over your work? That's a lot of pressure for someone our age."

"It must be a lot of pressure being the prophesized 'Destroyer of Time' as well." The elderly man said to Allen.

"Oh," Allen smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Really, I don't think about it too much."

"As if you EVER think, beansprout."

"My name's Allen!"

After they'd finished their meal, it was already dark outside. Tsamo had insisted they stay over night, he had no objections to having visitors for once. They agreed to stay, since they still needed to find out who or what destroyed the akuma in town.

Kanda had asked permission to use the room at the end of the upstairs hallway while the others went to sleep. He sat in the room meditating, but in the back of his mind he kept scolding himself. *"_What the hell, Kanda? Why didn't you say anything to the old man? He's obviously got something up his sleeves…Guh, I'm such an idiot. Now I have to wait until tomorrow for answers…_"* After 20 minutes or so of mentally smacking his own face, he went to the room the others were resting in, only to discover that there were only three beds, and all of them occupied.

Lavi heard Kanda come in and sat up in bed. "Bout time you got here, Yu. Allen and the ol' panda are asleep already."

Kanda pulled a blanket from the closet and laid it down on the floor without answering him.

"Lively as ever I see…" Lavi said, teasing him.

Kanda got comfortable on the blanket, ignoring the annoying bookman jr.

"Nighty night, Yu-chan!"

"Shuttup and sleep, dumbass."


	6. Chapter 6

CH 6

After Allen, Kanda, and Lavi went and asked the towns people about the akuma's killer, all of them said they'd seen nothing but 'silver'. A young boy approached them telling them that something called 'Silverton' was responsible for ridding the town of akuma. When they went to report this to Bookman and Tsamo, Tsamo seemed to be avoiding the conversation completely. He then invited them to dinner and brought up the topic of his daughter, Kyrine, who is to be the upcoming Life Sage. Kanda still never mentioned 'Silverton' to him, to his own regret. He, Bookman, Lavi, and Allen still stayed the night as guests at the Sage's home in order to obtain more information on the destruction of the akuma.

Allen was in heaven. Jerry had all of his favorite dishes cooked up and neatly displayed on the table in front of him. Allen reached for the fork and stuck it into a large steak. He went to stuff it into his mouth, but found that he couldn't. No matter how hard he'd tried, he kept missing his mouth. It was as if the steak was being repelled away from him. Suddenly, the table started moving away from Allen. He tried scooting closer to it, but the more he tried, the farther it got. He yelled in desperation, "No…NO! My fooooooood!"

Allen opened his eyes and sat up quickly, whacking his head on a small bedside stand and knocking the lamp that once rested on it onto the ground. He rubbed his head as he noticed he was no longer in bed, but rather laying on the ground beside it with the sheets partially hanging over the side. Allen stood up and started fixing the blankets. He noticed Lavi in the other bed next to his, still snoring and mumbling in his sleep. Bookman was not in his bed anymore and Kanda was no longer in the blankets that were sprawled out on the ground in the corner of the room. Allen walked over to Lavi and shook him by the shoulder. "Hey, Lavi. Wake up."

Lavi didn't move an inch, but Allen could faintly make out the word 'strike' amongst the many mumbles and groans.

Allen shook him harder. "You still alive in there? Come on, open your eyes already!"

"…w-wuh..?" Lavi's eyelids peeled open as he glanced over his shoulder at the white haired boy who'd awoken him. "Mph…what time is it?"

Allen reached into his jacket that was folded on the foot of his bed and pulled out a pocket watch. "It's only about 9:00am. I wonder where Kanda and Bookman went off to…"

After changing into some casual clothes, Lavi and Allen walked down the staircase to find Bookman, who was sitting in the living room holding a piece of paper.

"What's that?" Lavi asked, glancing over Bookman's shoulder to read the small note.

The note said:  
"_I've left to run a few errands in town, I'll be back around 10:30 or so. I've asked that my apprentice keep you occupied until my return._  
_-Tsamo Esagel_"

Bookman pointed towards the kitchen, where there was some clattering and shuffling noises coming from. Allen and Lavi entered the room to see a 17 year old boy looking through cabinets to find a glass to drink from.

"Uhm, excuse me?" Allen began. "Who exactly are you?"

The boy turned and looked at the two of them. "The name is Jethese. And you might be?"

"My name is Allen Walker."

"I'm Lavi, the Bookman's apprentice. I'm guessing you're the Sage's apprentice we've heard about."

"You guess correctly." Jethese stated proudly. "The one and only!"

Allen held out his hand to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm told you're the one who was interested in meeting me."

The boy cautiously shook his hand. "I am..? I mean, yes! I am! Sorry, my memory ain't the best."

Allen laughed softly. "It's fine! Don't worry about it."

"You know, you're not as shy seeming as I would've expected…since you never showed up the other day." Lavi pointed out.

"Ah, well," Jethese continued searching through cabinets. "I just had some…business to take care of."

Kanda, who was before in the other room meditating, was now eavesdropping on them.

"What kind of business?"

"Just some…y'know, shit for the Sage. I am his apprentice after all."

"Sorry, I was just curious. I expected to finally meet you at dinner yesterday, but you were gone then, too."

"Yeah, I got a busy schedule."

Kanda walked in the room. "Were you busy when the akuma showed up in town?"

It got silent in the room.

"K-Kanda!" Allen blurted. "There's no need to be rude like that!"

Kanda grunted. "I asked him a simple question. I expect an answer."

"The sage told me about that. I was busy in my room at the time." Jethese explained. "I didn't find out an akuma was ever here until this morning."

Unsatisfied, Kanda kept pushing the questions. "What about before the akuma appeared? You WERE in that room, weren't you? You heard us talking on the other side of the door, I'm sure. Why were you ignoring us?"

"Chill out, Yu…" Lavi tried to calm him, but it wasn't working.

The blond boy looked confused. He couldn't bare the stare that Kanda was giving him and chose to look away and continue searching through cabinets. "I have no idea what you're talking about, dude."


	7. Chapter 7

The four exorcists, Bookman, Lavi, Kanda, and Allen all made the decision to stay at the Sage's home overnight in order to investigate something called 'Silverton' that had been destroying akuma in the town. When they woke up that morning, Bookman had found a note from Tsamo telling them he was out in town and would be back in maybe an hour or two and that until his return, his apprentice would occupy them. They then met a blond boy named Jethese who informed them that the apprentice they were looking for was him. Kanda was suspicious of him, just as he had been suspicious of the Sage, and started asking him questions regarding the akuma, but Jethese didn't have the answers.

"So, how long have you been the Sage's apprentice?"

"Almost two years now, although it feels like it's been longer than that…"

Jethese had offered to give Allen, Lavi, and Kanda a tour of the town of Earthridge. They had just left Tsamo's house only minutes ago and were walking through the town with Kanda being completely silent.

Allen's stomach growled. "Hey, are there any places to eat around here? I'm starving."

"You're always hungry!" Lavi said with a laugh.

"If it's food you want, then it's food you'll get!" Jethese turned the corner and signaled them to follow. "I'll show you to my favorite restaurant in town!"

The four of them walked into a bar at the edge of town. There were a mixture of men and women, most of the women wearing suggestive clothing and taunting them as they entered. Jethese had a grin on his face, Allen and Lavi turned bright red, and Kanda rolled his eyes. The four of them sat at the bar and Jethese ordered them something to drink, although none of them accepted.

"T-this wasn't what I meant when I said a 'place to eat', y'know…" Allen said, his face still red from all the girls prancing around half-naked.

Jethese smiled like a pervert. "What teenaged guy wouldn't like this place?"

A girl with brown hair approached the bar and wrapped her arms around Kanda and Lavi's waists as she stood between them. Jethese looked almost shocked to see her. She got her face dangerously close to Lavi's. Lavi got even redder and didn't object in any way. "Hey there, sexy…You got a name, hun?" she said into Lavi's ear, who was too nervous to respond.

Allen noticed Jethese staring at her with a blank face. Surprisingly, he wasn't making that perverted grin anymore.

The girl was licking her lips in front of Lavi's face. "My name's Nova…What about you, redhead?" She whispered seductively while stroking his hair.

Lavi gulped. "M…my name..? Uhm…uh…"

"What did you just say your name was..?" Jethese asked the girl, looking confused.

She took her eyes off of Lavi and glanced at the blond boy who'd interrupted her. "Nova…could it be you're jealous because he's getting all my attention..?" She said as she reached across Lavi and Allen to stroke Jethese's chin, who pushed her hand away. Nova then got off of Lavi and stood behind Kanda, wrapping both arms around him, one hand stroking his chest, the other tickling his waist.

Kanda sat there with a grumpy face and ignored the girl's advances onto him.

"What about you, baby?" She put her lips to Kanda's ear. "Will you play with me..?" When Kanda didn't respond, she began slowly lowering the hand that was on his waist.

When Kanda realized where she was planning to put her hand, he quickly grabbed her arm and squeezed it as he yanked her away from him. She squealed and he stood up, holding her in the air by her arm. Everyone in the bar was getting quiet and watching Kanda yell in her face, "Who the fuck do you think you are? I bet you go selling yourself out to any guy who's willing to pay, don't you? Sluts like you are pathetic and I want nothing to do with them, GOT IT?"

The bartender grabbed him to hold him back. "Let her go, ya hear me, pal? You ain't welcome here, get out!"

Kanda dropped the girl and she fell to her knees. He then shoved the bartender off him and said, "I was just leaving." and walked out of the bar, followed by Allen and Lavi.

Jethese took one last look at the brown haired girl, who by then had tears in her eyes, before leaving with the others.

"Well, that was a huge waste of time." Kanda mumbled as he made his way down the street. "Stupid hooker…"

Allen caught up with him and said, "Don't you think you could've gone easy on Nova?"

Kanda grabbed Allen's shirt by the collar. "Do not call that whore by that name. That's probably just her 'stripper name' she goes by so no one finds out her real identity."

"She's still human!" Allen pleaded.

"Anyone who's willing to sell themselves like that is more like an akuma to me."

"If you ask me, the way you acted was less humane!"

"You wouldn't understand, beansprout."

Lavi stood between the two and said, "Hey, has anyone seen Jethese around here? I haven't seen him since we left the bar."

The three of them looked behind them to see that the blond boy was in fact no where to be found.

"He's probably enjoying that slut's company in the bar still." Kanda scoffed.

Allen scratched his head. "No, I'm positive he left with us…"

Suddenly, down at the end of the street near the bar, there were screams. People started fleeing from the area as fast as they could from the horrifying creature they'd just seen emerge from a human body.

Kanda unsheathed Mugen, Allen activated his left arm, and Lavi enlarged his hammer to prepare to battle the level 2 akuma at the streets end.

"Somebody, help me!" An unfortunately familiar voice came from the akuma's grip. It was Jethese, being squeezed in it's large claw. He cried out in agony, "Anybody, please! HELP!"


	8. Chapter 8

CH 8

Lavi, Allen, Kanda, and Bookman all made the decision to stay another night at the Sage's residence in order to obtain more information on 'Silverton', something that is rumored to have been slaying akuma in the town. When they woke up the next morning, they familiarized themselves with Jethese, a boy who claims to be the Sage's apprentice, who is supposed to entertain the exorcists until Tsamo returns from running errands in the town. Bookman stayed in wait for the Sage's arrival back to his home while Jethese offered to give the remaining three a tour of the town that included making a trip to a local bar. At the bar, they met a girl with messy brown hair calling herself 'Nova' who was trying to seduce them, including Kanda, who violently rejected her and promptly left the bar. However, it wasn't long after they left that another akuma showed up. This time, however, Jethese was taken captive by the akuma and was slowly being squeezed to death within the beast's claw.

"Anybody, please! HELP!" Jethese's voice called out desperately through the morning air. He winced with pain as the akuma's grip got tighter and tighter, trying to crush his bones to paste.

Lavi twirled his hammer with his fingers and chanted, "Size-shifting hammer, grow, grow, GROW!" He took a firm grip on his weapon with both hands and took a daring swing at the level two akuma.

The akuma was large in size and clearly not designed for agility, and was therefore directly struck by the massive hammer, causing it to topple over on its side. This akuma, however, was designed for it's strength and tolerance for attacks. It stood up and laughed in a deep voice, still clutching Jethese in it's grip. "It'll take more than that to stop me!" The akuma taunted.

Allen then noticed that not only did Lavi's attack do damage to the akuma, but also the blond boy, who was nearly unconscious at that point.

"Innocence, activate!" Kanda swung Mugen over his head, preparing to attack. "Netherworld creatures, ICHIG-!" Allen had put his left arm, which now took the form of a white claw, in front of Kanda, blocking him from attacking. "What the hell are you doing, BEANSPROUT?"

"We can't attack that thing while he's got Jethese! He's already hurt! We have to get that thing to let him go first!" Allen demanded.

Lavi realized the damage he'd already done to Jethese with his first attack. "Hate to say it, Yu, but Allen's right. I don't think it would go down well with the Sage if we let his apprentice get hurt in battle with an akuma."

Kanda leaped over Allen's arm and darted at the akuma, holding Mugen with both hands, ready to attack.

"Hold on, Yu!"

The akuma began trying to swat at Kanda, who was approaching too quickly for it's eyes to keep up with. Without even the slightest struggle, the dark haired exorcist sliced off the arm that the akuma had been using to crush Jethese. The arm fell to the ground and released it's grip from the Sage's apprentice, who was unable to move, for his body had gone completely numb.

The akuma screamed in agony as blood gushed from where it's arm was separated from it's body. "DAMN YOU, EXORCIST!"

Kanda hauled Jethese on his back farther away from the akuma, who kept trying to whack him with the fist that Kanda hadn't severed off without success, thanks to the strength in Allen's large and powerful anti-akuma weapon that was blocking every akuma attack from reaching Kanda and his faintly breathing cargo.

Since the akuma had it's focus on Kanda and Allen, Lavi took this opportunity to strike a sneak attack. "Innocence, level two, RELEASE!" he chanted, whirling his hammer in a circle above his head, causing a plethora of round symbols to appear along the hammer's path. "Stamp, FIRE CIRCLE! Devouring flame!" A large snake of fire emerged from where Lavi had slammed his hammer against the ground and homed in on the akuma. The akuma was completely engulfed in flames, so much so that the only one who could see the akuma clearly was Allen Walker and his cursed eye. Anyone else would've only seen a tower of pure fire.

Kanda set the immobile Jethese onto the ground and looked back to see the akuma completely masked by Lavi's fire attack. Allen stared intensely with his left eye active, looking to see if the akuma's soul had been set free. Lavi shrunk his hammer to a more manageable size and calmly walked up to Kanda and Allen without taking his eyes off the mountain of flames.

After about half a minute of silence coming from where the akuma was, Lavi proudly stated, "Well, I guess that solves our pest problem, eh?"

Kanda and Lavi kneeled down beside Jethese and made sure he was okay. Thankfully, he was still breathing and able to respond to them.

Allen didn't do the same thing. He was still staring at the burning akuma, searching for a released soul. He was unable to see anything, due to the blinding light that emanated from Lavi's attack. Without Allen's command, his left arm deactivated on it's own. "What the..?" He kept trying to activate over and over without success. "It must be because I haven't eaten yet…I don't have enough energy to use my anti-akuma weapon anymore…"

Out of nowhere, a sort of tacky glue-like substance shot out from the mountain of fire repeatedly, followed by a menacing laugh. In an instant, before any one of the exorcists had time to react, one of the bullets of glue lapped against Allen's inactive arm and pinned it against the ground. Another hit Kanda's sword, knocking it far away from him, while another hit Kanda's feet, securing him on the ground where he stood. Lavi realized what was happening and hastily tried to dodge the bullet, causing himself to trip and drop his hammer and get shot in the legs by the gluey bullets while on his knees.

The akuma emerged from the glowing flames laughing hysterically, admiring the sight that was before it: three exorcists stuck to the ground without their innocence to attack or defend with. "Which exorcist should I kill first, hm? Any volunteers?" It glanced over at Lavi, the one pinned to his knees by the glue. "Well, don't you look pathetic?" It spoke with a hint of laughter. "I think I'll start with YOU!"

Lavi watched as the akuma fired bullets containing the virus straight at him. Things seemed to move in slow motion to him as his life began flashing before his eyes. His mind flooded with memories and questions. "_This is it…I'm going to die…but…am I dying as the successor to the Bookman…or as an exorcist of the Black Order..? What has my life been worth up until this point...?_" His thoughts were muffling out all sound around him. He could barely hear Allen's voice desperately yelling out to him. "_Why is he acting so upset..? I'm not his friend…am I..? Bookmen have no need of a heart…_" Lavi closed his eyes as the bullet got closer and closer to him. He could see the purple light coming from the bullet through his eye lids. "_Maybe…this is the day…I was meant to die all along…_"

Lavi heard the impact of the bullet, yet he didn't feel an ounce of pain. He wondered if you weren't supposed to feel death. Maybe it was supposed to be painless. He opened his eyes and saw someone had defended him from the bullet. Someone other than Allen or Kanda had jumped in front of the bullet to save his life. That person lay to Lavi's left side, with black pentacles appearing on their skin. All three of the exorcists recognized this person. It was a girl with messy brown hair and a bullet lodged in her kidney. All three of them said her name simultaneously…

"NOVA!"


	9. Chapter 9

CH 9

Jethese brought Kanda, Allen, and Lavi to a bar in town after being told to entertain them by the Life Sage. When the four of them were in the bar, they found themselves being seduced by a girl with messy brown hair that went by the name 'Nova'. Kanda found her behavior disgusting and violently rejected her before leaving the bar. After they left, they found that a powerful level two akuma had captured Jethese and was trying to crush him to death. The three exorcists managed to rescue the boy, and Lavi used his fire snake attack to engulf the akuma in flames. When they thought the akuma was destroyed, they let their guard down and checked Jethese's vital signs. Little did they realize that the akuma had not been destroyed. It then seized the opportunity and managed to leave the three exorcists completely vulnerable to attacks by sticking them to the ground with glue and knocking their innocence out of reach. The akuma then tried to shoot a bullet with the virus at Lavi, but right before the bullet was able to reach him, a familiar girl came out of nowhere and risked her life to save his.

"NOVA!"

The girl lay motionless on the ground beside Lavi with the akuma's bullet halfway through her side. Pentacles appeared on her body, turning her pale skin pitch black. Lavi couldn't bear to look at her. He refused to watch her body turn to dust knowing that should've been him instead.

The akuma laughed mockingly. "Ahaha! She's dead! The stupid human girl is dead!"

Allen looked away from the girl's body. "…You….monster…"

"What was that? Come again, pathetic exorcist?" The akuma taunted the cursed boy.

"YOU MONSTER!" Allen began to struggle violently to release his left arm from the tack that had it stuck to the ground.

"You're wasting your energy, beansprout!" Kanda yelled with his feet sealed to the ground beside Jethese.

Allen kept yanking his arm upwards in attempt to get free. "I don't care! She had nothing to do with this! She was just a harmless girl! She didn't deserve to die like this!" Suddenly, a loud crack came from Allen's arm, followed by a scream filled with pure agony. Allen had actually broken his arm in his struggles.

The akuma enjoyed his pain and wanted him to feel more of it. "Die! Die! Die!" It chanted as it lifted its foot to stomp on the defenseless exorcist.

Allen squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for the impact of the large foot towering above him.

There was a loud clang of what sounded like metal. Allen felt no pain and chose to open his eyes. What he saw he couldn't believe. Standing in front of him keeping the akuma's foot from crushing him was none other than Nova. Her hair was still messy and brown, but her skin was completely black with the akuma virus. Her right arm was holding the akuma's foot above them.

"What the..?" Kanda stared at her in complete awe.

Lavi hadn't even seen her leave his side. "Who exactly…is she?" He asked himself.

Allen watched as her fingernails began glowing white. Slowly, the akuma virus was being completely cleansed from her body and absorbed into them.

The akuma lifted it's foot and looked at the girl. "Huh? I thought I killed you already?"

Without a sound, the girl lunged at the akuma. All that could be seen by Allen, Lavi, and Kanda after that point was streak after streak of silver. Silver light was whooshing around the akuma at unbelievable speeds.

Even the akuma was confused. Slices were appearing on it's body every time a streak of light flew past it. "W-what are you doing to me?! Stop it!" The akuma yelled. "STOP!"

At that point, all three exorcists had come to the same conclusion. This girl, the hooker from the bar, the one who calls herself Nova, was none other than the person who was known to slay akuma in the town of Earthridge that the people feared so much, Silverton.

The light then stopped flying around the akuma. It came to a sudden stop directly in front of the exorcists. Finally, they could see her. Her hair was no longer brown, but completely silver, just like her nails were.

The akuma stopped moving too. It stood there, nonresponsive. It's eyes were empty and blank, as if it had been paralyzed. Nova, who had her back turned to it, calmly snapped her fingers, and the akuma began falling apart, piece by piece, cleanly cut into squares.

Allen watched the akuma's soul have salvation brought to it as it rose up into the sky. The remains of the akuma's body exploded, and the sticky glue that bound the exorcists to the ground dissolved into the air. All that was left was Nova, who stood in front of them completely motionless with her head down and her hair glowing silver.

The first thing Kanda did when his feet got loose was run and grab Mugen, which he then pointed at Nova, who had no reaction at all to the blade aimed at her.

Lavi picked up his hammer and ran to Allen, whose left arm was broken internally.

Jethese began to stand as his numbness subsided. He smiled a little and said to himself, "It's about time she got here…"

Kanda stood in front of Nova holding Mugen with his right hand, aiming it at her. "You, you're Silverton, aren't you?"

"It's okay, now…" Jethese said to her, regaining his strength. "You did well. We're all okay. You can relax."

With that, the girl's hair faded back to brown and her fingernails returned to normal. Then, she collapsed onto the ground with a thud and fell unconscious.

They'd chosen to return to the Sage's home. Allen needed medical attention for his arm and they couldn't just leave Nova lying in the street unconscious, especially when she was obviously an accommodator of innocence. Lavi had volunteered to carry her on his back the whole way there while Kanda assisted Jethese, who still was weak. It's not that Kanda wanted to, but Allen's arm was too injured to do it instead.

When they entered the front gate to the Sage's home, Bookman and Tsamo where standing there waiting for them. "We heard a ruckus in the town shortly after I returned." Tsamo said. "Is everyone alright?"

Allen, who had been clutching his shoulder with his right hand, signaled behind him with his head towards Lavi, who carried the comatose girl on his back.

Tsamo's eyes widened. "Dear god…What happened?!"

"It was Nova…" Jethese said, his arm over Kanda's shoulders for support. "She had her again."


	10. Chapter 10

After Jethese offered a tour of the local town, he set out with Allen, Lavi, and Kanda. Along the way, another akuma showed up and took Jethese captive. Kanda managed to rescue him, but his body had gone numb. Shortly after, Lavi used a fire snake in attempt to destroy the akuma, which instead hid it from the exorcists behind the blinding flames. The akuma took this chance to give a sneak attack and shot gluey pellets at the exorcists, one on Allen's left arm (that he was unable to activate due to lack of energy), one on Kanda's feet, one on Mugen so Kanda couldn't use it, and one on Lavi's legs, sealing all three of them firmly to the ground. With the exorcists defenseless, the akuma picked Lavi as his first victim and shot a bullet containing the akuma virus at him. He was saved, however, by a girl they had met at a local bar who attempted to seduce them calling herself 'Nova'. Assuming she had died, an infuriated Allen struggled with the glue binding him to the ground, causing him to eventually break his left arm. The akuma then tried stomping on Allen, but was stopped immediately by the same girl who'd saved Lavi. It was then revealed that Nova, the hooker, was actually Silverton as she sliced the akuma apart and brought salvation to its soul, and then fell unconscious. The three very confused young men then brought her back to the Sage, which led to Jethese saying a sentence that's meaning was unknown…

"It was Nova…She had her again."

Tsamo directed the exorcists to take the girl to a room on the upper floor – the first room on the left. There, Lavi laid her down on the bed and covered her up. Kanda stood leaning against the wall next to the bed and Lavi sat on it beside her. Both of them were patiently waiting for her to open her eyes, although Kanda was particularly not looking forward to it.

Allen remained in the main room with Bookman, who was tending to his broken arm.

"It appears to be your humerus that is broken." Bookman stated as he carefully observed Allen's left arm, giving it a light poke.

"AHH! That hurts!" Allen yelped at the sharp pain that had flooded through his arm.

Tsamo walked in the front door holding an array of plants within his grip. "Feeling any better, Mr. Walker?"

"Hardly…"

Tsamo smiled. "I may have just the thing to heal that arm of yours right up. Do you mind if I use this?" The elderly man said, pointing to Allen's cup of herbal tea on the table.

"Uhm…I guess not..?"

Tsamo picked up the teacup and dropped in small amounts of the plants he'd gathered from the garden outside and began stirring them in. He then reached behind the sofa and pulled out a large chest. After unlocking it, he lifted out an old looking bag with what looked like a puny parachute attached to it with just a few threads. Tsamo smiled at Allen and Bookman's confused faces. "Watch carefully now, this is something that very few people have the luxury of witnessing." He then took the cup of tea and mysterious twigs and leaves and poured it into the old bag. Bookman and Allen stared in awe as Tsamo's hands glowed green as they cradled it gently. A green glowing substance began lifting from a hole in the top of the bag and filled up the small parachute that hovered above it. Once it had filled up, Tsamo grasped the parachute in his hands, holding it shut.

Allen took a peek into the bag and was shocked to see that it was empty, free of any tea or twigs. "Where's the..?"

Tsamo pointed to the parachute, which looked more like a helium balloon now. "It's in here. I harvested the Life energy from the herbs in the tea. That's what's I'm holding right now. Pure Life." He then reached upward into the little balloon and pulled out a handful of the green glowing substance and held it against Allen's broken arm.

At first, Allen was a little worried about the stuff touching him, but after it had, he began enjoying it. It was a wonderful sensation. It had no temperature, no particular texture, no physical tangibility. "Wow…it feels…wonderful…" That was the only way he could even imagine to describe it.

After a minute or so of treatment, Tsamo ceased. "How's your arm now, Mr. Walker?"

The white haired boy cautiously poked at his left arm. When he felt no pain, he began to move it freely. It was as if it had never broken at all.

"So this is the power of the Sage of Life…" Bookman thought to himself. "Amazing…"

Meanwhile, Lavi and Kanda remained in an upstairs bedroom waiting for Nova to awaken. There was complete silence in the room. Neither of them knew exactly what to say.

Lavi chose to break the ice. "Sooo….crazy day, huh?" He said with an awkward smirk.

"Hmph." Kanda scoffed at how blunt the statement was. "There's nothing 'crazy' about today's events."

"You gotta be freakin' shittin' me." Lavi glanced at the comatose girl who'd saved his life. "I…could've been killed…" He put his hand on Nova's forehead gently. "If she hadn't been there…"

"Would you quit feeling sorry for yourself already? It's pathetic." He snarled at her. "I'd rather die than be rescued by some filthy whore."

Lavi's face changed from gentle to firm. "You're still thinking about when we were at the bar? This girl is a hero. She deserves more than your foul comments. I owe her my life!"

"And I don't owe her SHIT!"

"That could've easily been you that the akuma shot!"

"Wouldn't matter, dumbass! I wouldn't die that easily!"

There was a knock on the door. Lavi and Kanda both turned there attention to Jethese, who had just made his entrance. "I'm not interrupting you, am I?" He said with a smirk.

Kanda suddenly remembered what Jethese had said to the Sage when they'd brought the girl there and instantly grabbed the blond boy by the collar and pinned him against the wall. "Listen, moron. I know you know something we don't, and you're gonna tell me. RIGHT now!"

"H-hey! Easy there, pal! Just calm down, bro!" Jethese pleaded.

"I will NOT calm down! Tell me exactly what you meant when you said, 'It was Nova, She had her again.' Explain the meaning of that sentence!" Kanda had Jethese off the ground at this point, staring him down with those stone cold eyes of his.

Lavi firmly put his hand on the dark haired exorcist's shoulder. "Back off of him, Yu. Give him some space, he is the Sage's apprentice after all…"

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHO'S APPRENTICE HE IS!"

A certain young brown haired girl was awoken by the yelling and cursing that was going on around her. She kept her eyes closed and tried to listen to what the young men were saying, but her hearing was dulled and muffled. Their voices just sounded like annoying bursts of noise to her. She barely opened her right eye just enough to get a look at who was responsible for the ruckus. She recognized the room she was laying in, but not the men who stood in it arguing. She glanced at the window on her right at the other side of the room and made sure none of the men were looking in her direction. She was waiting for the perfect moment…


	11. Chapter 11

Lavi, Kanda, and Allen were under attack by a level two akuma and were left completely defenseless. Just when they all thought their lives were over, they were rescued by a girl they'd met at a bar named Nova and discovered that she was an apostle of God, an accommodator of innocence. After saving them and destroying the akuma, the girl fell unconscious and the three exorcists brought her back to the Sage's home. Allen received treatment by Tsamo, who quickly healed Allen's broken left arm using the abilities he possesses as the Sage of Life. Meanwhile, Kanda and Lavi, who were upstairs watching over Nova while she slept, got into an argument regarding whether or not Nova is a hero, which eventually led to Kanda taking his anger out on Jethese, who'd interrupted them. Then…

A certain young brown haired girl was awoken by the yelling and cursing that was going on around her. She kept her eyes closed and tried to listen to what the young men were saying, but her hearing was dulled and muffled. Their voices just sounded like annoying bursts of noise to her. She barely opened her right eye just enough to get a look at who was responsible for the ruckus. She recognized the room she was laying in, but not the men who stood in it arguing. She glanced at the window on her right at the other side of the room and made sure none of the men were looking in her direction. She was waiting for the perfect moment…

The girl flew out of the bed she was laying in at top speed. She was headed to the window, where she would be able to escape. Just before she could reach the window, just when she thought freedom was within her grasp, something…someone…had blocked her exit. She slammed into him hard and fell back and landed on her rear. She quickly looked up and saw the tall exorcist with long dark hair standing firmly in front of the window.

"The hell do you think you're going?" Kanda said, looking down at her.

Much to his surprise, she didn't look the least bit frightened. She looked up at him with fierce, cold eyes, similar to the ones he used to intimidate her at the bar.

Lavi, who'd just realized what was happening, walked over to her. "What are you trying to do? If you jump out of that window, you could get hurt…" He then reached to place his hand on her shoulder.

The moment his fingertips contacted her, she violently swatted him away and made another run for it, trying to shove Kanda out of her way as well.

Kanda pulled out Mugen and held it horizontally in front of her, making her route all the more impassable. "You're not going anywhere."

Allen ran into the room. "What's going on in here? What's with all the noi-!" He looked at the girl, who was standing between Lavi and Kanda, staring at Kanda viciously as he held Mugen out in front of her.

"I'm warning you. I won't let you out of here. I've got some questions to ask you and I expect answers." The dark haired exorcist stated.

The girl didn't answer him with her words, but rather her actions. Without even the slightest hesitation, she grabbed Mugen's blade and yanked it away, much to the exorcist's surprise. Then, suddenly, her face changed. Her stone cold eyes were filled with pain. The girl dropped to her knees and gripped her right hand, terrified at the sight of the enormous amounts of blood gushing from the wound. It was as if she'd never felt pain before in her life.

"Oh my god!" Allen ran up and kneeled beside her to assist, but despite the injury, when Allen touched her, her vicious behavior returned and she tried to punch him with the bloody right hand. Allen grabbed her arm with his deformed hand and squeezed it tightly. "Please, try to calm down. I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to help."

She stared at his hand, half scared, half confused. *"_Who are these people..?_"* She thought to herself. *"_How…how did that guy's sword cut me..? What's going on..?_"*

Allen gripped her arm as hard as he could without hurting her. He was trying to cut off the blood flow to her hand so she wouldn't bleed to death, but the number she felt her hand get, the more determined she was to escape. She was thrashing violently and trying to get free. She punched Allen's face with her free hand, desperate for him to release her.

Lavi got down on the ground and held both of his arms around her to restrain her, which made her angrier. "Chill out! We just want to help you!"

With both of her arms now immobile, the girl turned and bit into Lavi's cheek hard, leaving behind clear indentions and even drawing blood.

Kanda stood in front of the window watching the girl struggle with Allen and Lavi. He wasn't holding Mugen as firmly anymore, either. He thought to himself, *"_This girl…she's different from when we first met her. She looked so horrified when I'd lifted her off the ground and yelled at her…now horrified is the last thing she is. She's actually putting up a serious fight…Lavi and the beansprout are having difficulty restraining her…Maybe she was only acting so helpless at the bar because she knew others would help her…But then…there's one more thing…her eyes changed color…_"*

Down in the kitchen were Bookman and Tsamo, who were startled by the many thuds and banging noises coming from the room above them. They made their ways up the staircase, running into Jethese, who was headed in the opposite direction.

"What's going on up there?" Tsamo questioned the boy.

"She finally woke up and…uh…tried to escape…" Jethese said frantically. "Her hand is seriously hurt…"

The two elderly men barged into the room alongside Jethese. Tsamo stared at the unpleasant scene before him: The girl was on the ground, being pinned by Lavi and Allen. She was grinding her teeth at the pain in her right hand, that had been sliced open by Kanda's Mugen and was dripping…gushing with blood all over Allen and herself. She had her eyes squeezed tightly shut. The sight of her own blood was making her nauseous, yet her struggling wouldn't subside. Tsamo calmly walked up to them. He knelt beside her and gently placed his hand upon her forehead.

The exorcists expected her to lash out at him, the way she had done before, but instead, her reaction was quite the opposite. Suddenly, she stopped struggling all together. Unbeknownst to them, the Sage was secretly speaking to her within her mind.

"_Please, stop this. These men are of no threat to you. You are not in danger. They are not your enemy. Cease this pointless struggling. Stop trying to run from the people who want to help you. I'll explain later, but for now, I need you to calm down and open your eyes. Trust me._"

With that, the girl's muscles relaxed completely and she calmly opened her eyes. She looked directly at Tsamo, without any fear or anger.

Tsamo smiled warmly at her. "Walker, Bookman Jr., please release her."

Allen and Lavi looked at each other. "But she tried to jump out the window!" Lavi said.

"And I'm trying to stop the bleeding in her hand! This cut is really deep! She could easily bleed to death!"

"I will deal with her injury myself, Mr. Walker." Tsamo looked at the girl. She was no longer looking him in the eyes. Now, she had her eyes focused on Mugen, which had her blood on the blade. Her expression was calm, but firm. "There won't be any more problems. Let her go, please."

Allen and Lavi did as they were told, stood up, and gave her some space.

"Goodness, this certainly isn't a very good first impression now, is it?" Tsamo held out his hand to the girl, who still sat on the ground, her eyes averted from everyone. "Let me help you up."

She scowled at him, but took his hand anyway and got to her feet and stood beside Tsamo without a single word.

The Sage rested his hand on her back and presented her to them. "The person who stands before you is one who I trust with my very life. Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to Silverton, my apprentice."


	12. Chapter 12 part 1

After being saved from an akuma by Nova, Allen, Lavi, and Kanda brought her unconscious body back to the Sage's home. Allen's broken left arm was healed by Tsamo while Lavi and Kanda argued upstairs in the room where they were supposed to be watching over the girl. She woke up in the middle of all the yelling and tried to make an escape out the window, but was stopped by Kanda, who then unsheathed Mugen and held it out to her to block her path. He was shocked when she carelessly grabbed the blade and tried to yank it away. The sword sliced her hand, causing profuse bleeding, which she didn't seem to expect to happen. Allen entered the room and tried to stop the blood loss by cutting circulation off of her hand. When he tried to do so, she would struggle more and try to get free, so Lavi assisted Allen in pinning her down. During this time, Kanda noticed her behavior was not only different, but her eye color as well. She in the end managed to punch Allen's face and sink her teeth into Lavi's cheek in her struggles. Tsamo and Bookman then entered the room and saw what was happening. Tsamo calmly approached them and placed his hand on the distraught girl's forehead and spoke to her secretly within her mind. He said…

"_Please, stop this. These men are of no threat to you. You are not in danger. They are not your enemy. Cease this pointless struggling. Stop trying to run from the people who want to help you. I'll explain later, but for now, I need you to calm down and open your eyes. Trust me._"

The girl then calmed down and stopped fighting the exorcists. She refused to look them in the eye as the stood up off the ground. Instead she was mesmerized by her blood that was dripping off of Mugen's blade.

The Sage rested his hand on her back and presented her to them. "The person who stands before you is one who I trust with my very life. Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to Silverton, my apprentice."

The group was now in the main room. Tsamo was sitting on a sofa with the girl, who hadn't said a word. Her sliced hand was wrapped tightly in Lavi's scarf to temporarily stop the bleeding. As the Sage prepared to perform a healing session on her, Lavi, Bookman, and Allen sat on a sofa across from them while Kanda was leaning against the wall.

For the longest time, it was silent in the room. None of the exorcists really knew what to say. Allen's face was still sore from where he'd been punched and Lavi's cheek still had clear teeth marks from where he'd been bitten. It was as if one moment, they were struggling to pin the girl down, and the next, she was perfectly calm.

"I'm terribly sorry about all this." Tsamo finally spoke. His hands were glowing green and he was applying the substance to the girl's hand, the same way he had Allen's arm before.

Bookman shook his head. "No need to apologize. I'm sure there has just been some sort of misunderstanding."

"There has to have been," Allen said, looking around for Jethese, who'd disappeared a while ago. "You said SHE was your apprentice, but we already met your apprentice this morning."

"That's right, that blond dude, Jethese, told us he was your apprentice." Lavi added.

The girl growled at the sound of his name. Tsamo suddenly stopped healing her and face palmed. "When is that boy going to learn…"

Allen tilted his head. "Uhm…pardon me?"

"That boy is most definitely NOT my apprentice…no where near it, even." Just then, Tsamo heard a faint creak coming from the wooden floor in his kitchen. "Mr. Ackers, get in here this instant!"

Frustrated at being discovered, Jethese stepped out of the kitchen into the main room. "Heh, heh…'ey fellas…" he said nervously.

Kanda shot him a glare that sent chills up his spine. "Have you been lying to us, goldilocks?"

"Pfft…Me? Lie? Tch, nah…I prefer the term, 'truth bend'." He said, ignoring Kanda's insult to his hair.

Bookman grumbled. "I see. So, you in fact are not the Sage's apprentice after all, are you?"

Jethese busted out in laughter. "Please, only a low life would want that role!"

Suddenly, an empty mug that was once filled with tea was hurled across the room, aiming straight at Jethese' head. The boy yelped and ducked, barely avoiding the mug, which then hit the wall behind him and shattered. It was thrown by the girl, whose hand was still not fully healed. She was grinding her teeth at the blond boy, whose smug attitude had completely vanished.

"J..J..Jesus…that almost hit me!" Jethese said, his voice trembling under her stare.

"If I'm not mistaken, that was the point." Tsamo blatantly stated. "Come now, Silverton. He isn't worth it."

She grunted and sat back in the sofa, returning her right hand to Tsamo for healing.

"Why would you lie about being his apprentice?" Lavi asked.

Jethese rubbed the back of his neck. "Just wanted to mess with ya. It sure was fun while it lasted tho-..!" He was forced to dodge yet another mug hurling in his direction, this time, however, it was thrown by Tsamo.

The old man scowled at him. "I'll have you know, the only reason I haven't kicked you out of here yet is because I would like some answers from you. Sit down in that chair and let us talk." Tsamo said, pointing to an empty chair alongside the two sofas.

"Right…I'll just…do that…" Jethese mumbled as he cautiously tiptoed past him and sat in the chair.

"Alright. Now, I know I couldn't possibly be the only one in this room who is confused regarding recent events."

All the exorcists nodded.

Tsamo continued healing the girl's hand. "First thing's first. Could you three explain what happened yesterday when you saw the akuma?"

"Well, I noticed an akuma in town and the three of us went to go destroy it, but before we could even get there, it just fell to pieces."

"Cut into squares?" Tsamo asked.

"Y-yeah..how'd you know that?" Lavi and Allen looked at eachother.

Tsamo shook his head. "Never mind that for now. Please continue."

Kanda took the floor. "We questioned the towns people and they kept saying they saw 'nothing but silver'…Why are we telling you all this? We've already done it after it happened."

"That's true, you have all made me aware of this before. However, my apprentice is the one who needs the answers here"

"But that doesn't make sense! Your apprentice is the one who destroyed it!" Kanda said, irritated.

The Sage ignored him and turned his attention to Jethese, who sat there quietly, afraid to speak out of turn. "That night, I went to speak to Silverton about it, assuming she had destroyed it, but her bedroom door was locked. I assumed she was sleeping as usual and I chose to write her a small note and I slid it under the door. Ackers, the next morning, you somehow confused these people into thinking you were her. How exactly did you do it?"

"Oh, right…" Jethese began, "I kinda snuck in your house through her bedroom window, which was wide open by the way…When I got in, I couldn't find her anywhere, but I did see a little note by the door addressed to her saying, 'Silverton, I'm proud of you for destroying the akuma, but please stop being so shy around our guests. Tomorrow morning I'll be running the usual errands in town. Make sure they feel welcome and keep them entertained.' So then I went and looked around the house for her, and instead I found these guys." He pointed to the exorcists. "They assumed I was your apprentice and I just went along with it, hehe…"

Tsamo glanced at his apprentice, who was looking at the ground and still not speaking out. "Silverton, the night before when you went to sleep, did you have your window open?"

She shook her head.

"Interesting…After he lied to you, what happened?" Tsamo questioned the exorcists.

"Jethese offered to give us a tour of the town." Lavi answered. "He took us to some dirty bar…and uh…we saw her." He pointed to the quiet girl.

"That apprentice of yours started whoring herself out to us." Kanda said, glaring at her sharply.

Tsamo picked up his walking staff that was before leaning against the sofa, reached over, and whacked Kanda upside his head. "How dare you accuse my apprentice of such awful things. Silverton would never EVER behave in such a way."

"I'm sorry sir, but we all saw her with our own eyes." Lavi said, in Kanda's defense.

Tsamo scoffed at them. "Looks can be deceiving." He glanced at Jethese.

Jethese nodded. "That's right. I've known her for a long time. She really isn't the type of girl who would act like a slut. I was surprised to see her there at first, but then she said that her name was…Nova…"

Suddenly the girl's eyes got wider and she began listening more intently.

"That's very interesting. It's all making sense now." Tsamo said, stroking his beard.

"What the hell?" Kanda said, "How does that make any sense? Nothing here is making sense!"

"Silverton is actually my apprentice's last name. I never refer to people by first name. However, Nova isn't hers. Nova is the first name of my apprentice's long deceased older sister."


	13. Chapter 12 part 2

Tsamo finished healing Silverton's hand and walked over to the corner of the room and picked up a photograph in a frame. He handed it to the exorcists. "This photograph was taken three years ago, long before I ever met Silverton."

They all observed the photo. In it, there was a family of five: A mother and father, a beautiful girl around age 19, a little toddler boy, and a 13 year old Silverton. She was the only one who wasn't smiling.

"The person who was flirting with you in the bar was most definitely not my apprentice. It was Nova, this girl here." Tsamo stated, pointing to the beautiful 19 year old girl in the photo. "That is Nova Silverton."

"I still don't understand," Allen said, "How could that be..?"

Tsamo glanced at Silverton, who then stood up and walked out of the room, leaving behind a silver and black golem that had flown out of her pocket. It landed on the twig tied into Tsamo's grayish white hair. "My apprentice's sister had a connection to the innocence that is now housed within Silverton's body."

"What kind of connection might you be referring to?" Bookman asked.

Tsamo hesitated for a moment. "From what this golem has shown me, Nova was at one point its accommodator. She was born with it within her body as a parasitic user. However, when she was around five or six, my apprentice was born. At that time, the innocence switched it's accommodator to Silverton, but remained housed within Nova's body despite that."

"How do you know the innocence preferred Silverton as apposed to her sister?" Bookman questioned. He took this like more of a reason to record history than anything.

Tsamo now spoke to the golem that was on his head. "Acrolith, please show them your memory of November 2, when Silverton was 9 years of age."

The silver and black golem opened it's mouth and began projecting a memory. At first it was unclear, but then they could see a younger version of Silverton and Nova, sitting by themselves in a house.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_"Are you going to sit and stare out the window all day?" 14 year old Nova said in the memory._

_Little Silverton was sitting on a windowsill staring outside at the colorful leaves that lay scattered underneath a tree. It was nighttime and Nova had been left in charge of her little sister while their parents were out on a date._

_"If you don't answer me, you're not getting any of the cookies Daddy bought from Nana's shop. I'm gonna eat 'em all!" Nova taunted as she started towards the kitchen._

_Silverton turned her attention from the window and headed after her. "No, Nova! Stop it! Daddy bought 'em for me! Don't!"_

_Nova laughed and held a cookie above her little sister's head, barely out of reach. "Sorry, you gotta be at least this tall to eat sweets like this." She then bit the cookie, chewed it up, and spit it in Silverton's face, making her eyes glaze over._

_Nova laughed at her sister's tears. "You're so pathetic! I can't wait for Momma to get here so she can see how stupid you loo-" Her speech was cut off by a loud banging on their front door. She headed to go answer it without thinking._

_Silverton wiped the chewed cookie off her face and called to her, "Don't! Daddy says we can't answer the door when we're alone…He's gonna be real mad…"_

_"I don't give a hoot what he says. He can't tell me what to do!" Nova turned the knob and before she could open it herself, the door was kicked open by two adult men._

_The men smirked and forced their ways in the door. "Awh, look at you. Aren't you just the cutest little thing?" One of them said._

_"Are your parents home, little girl?" said the other, with a grin._

_Nova backed away from them, terrified. "Y-you can't be in here…"_

_"Actually, I'm pretty sure we can do what ever we want!" One of them said, pulling out a knife from his pocket. "Come 'ere why don'tcha." He then lunged at Nova and picked her up over his shoulder. Nova screamed, flailed, and kicked as tears poured from her eyes. "Awh, don't cry, cutie. You're gonna have lots of fun at our place." He said, squeezing her rear with a smirk._

_"Hey, there's another one in here!" His partner called to him after discovering Silverton hiding in a cupboard, crying. "She's a little one! Kids don't bring in as much cash as the teenagers, but she'll do, won't she?"_

_The one holding Nova took a look at Silverton. "Nah, the boss don't want no kids. This little thing ain't gonna get us paid shit. Ya may as well just kill her."_

_The other man nodded his head and reached out to Silverton with a knife. "You're gonna go to sleep for a long long time, okay?" He said, grinning devilishly._

_She watched as the other man walked away with Nova, who was clawing at his back to get free. Not knowing what else to do, Silverton screamed at the top of her lungs, "NOVA! HELP ME!"_

_Suddenly, right before the man could stab Silverton, a large silver blade shot out from Nova's body and sliced the man's arm clean off. Nova's eyes were pure white and her hair was now like silver threads. Before the man that was holding her could react, silver blades shot out all over her body like a porcupine and skewered him in several places. Then all the blades retracted and the man fell to the ground, dead. Nova then lunged at the man who's hand was cut off and did the same thing. After both of them were dead and gone and Silverton was safe, Nova collapsed and her hair went back to it's normal color._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Enough, Acrolith. You can stop there." Tsamo said to the golem. The memory then faded away.

"Now I see why you would think that the innocence changed it's accommodator to Silverton." Bookman stated.

Lavi nodded. "It reacted to her being in danger, but not Nova."

"I guess that makes sense…but I still don't get how any of this explains how Nova could've been the one we met at the bar." Allen said.

Jethese explained, "Since Nova used to be the accommodator of the innocence, her soul still has a connection to it."

"And she can use this connection to control my apprentice's body whenever Silverton's innocence acts on it's own."

Kanda tried putting the pieces together in his mind. "If she was asleep, and an akuma were nearby, would that cause her innocence to maybe destroy the akuma on it's own, since she would be unconscious?"

"Precisely." The Sage answered him. "My guess is that yesterday when the akuma showed up, my apprentice was in the middle of sleeping and the innocence could sense the akuma and chose to destroy it without her control. If that were to happen, then it's likely that Nova used that brief moment in time to attach her soul to my apprentice's body through her connection with the innocence."

"If that's the case, then that explains why the window was wide open the next morning. Once Nova had control over her, she knew you of all people would be able to tell it wasn't your apprentice and so she must've climbed out the window to get out of the house." Jethese added. "Then she went somewhere that she knew she'd be able to make her sister's body look bad…"

Tsamo shook his head in disgust. "It's thanks to Nova that my apprentice has been mistaken for a hooker many times."

"Why would Nova want Silverton to look bad? She's her sister…" Allen questioned.

Kanda grunted. "Obviously her sister didn't like Silverton. Didn't you see Nova spit in her face in the memory? Stupid beansprout…"

Bookman rolled his eyes. "This all explains how they came to meet Nova, but how is it that your apprentice was able to gain control over her body again?"

"That can only happen if the innocence takes control to protect her body from harm."

Jethese nodded in approval. "That happened when Nova saved Lavi from the akuma's bullet after we all left the bar. The virus would've killed her if the innocence hadn't purified her body. That's when Nova got forced out."

"How exactly do you know all about this?" Lavi asked the blond boy.

"Heh, I'm the only guy she's ever dated who didn't dump her and call her a freak when I saw her destroy an akuma, so I was taught this stuff," He said with a cocky smirk. "But just 'cause I didn't say it doesn't mean I didn't think it!"

Tsamo whacked Jethese on the head with his staff. "It would be in your best interest not to say things like that around Silverton, Ackers."

"Could I ask you a question?" Allen spoke while twiddling his fingers. "You said earlier that Nova was long deceased…How exactly did she die?"

"And how did innocence that was inside Nova's body get into Silverton's?" Kanda added.

Tsamo shook his head. "Pardon me, but there's no way I'm going to show you that memory. It's far too gruesome…but what I can tell you is that when Nova's body was destroyed, the innocence transferred into my apprentice's body as a new host."

"Who knew innocence was capable of such things…" Bookman said, assessing the situation. "However, you are aware that since she is an accommodator of innocence, she has to be brought back to the order with us. She needs to be under the supervision of a general."

Tsamo smiled. "I'm well aware of that. In fact, I knew today would be the day she achieved her goal of becoming an exorcist. However, she is already under a general's supervision. She just hasn't trained with him personally yet. I assumed that's why you were sent here, Kanda."

Kanda finally understood.

"When I discovered she was able to destroy akuma, the first person I made aware was Froi Tiedoll. I told him that it was Silverton's wish to be my apprentice but she also needed to be connected to the Black Order. Froi then permitted me to train her myself until the day I felt she was ready to move onto being an exorcist. Silverton has never met Tiedoll before, but now she's finally ready to become his disciple, alongside you, Mr. Kanda."


	14. Chapter 13

After saving them from an akuma, Allen, Lavi, and Kanda brought Silverton to the Sage's home, where it was revealed that she was actually the Sage's Apprentice, not Jethese. It was explained that Nova, Silverton's deceased older sister, was previously the accommodator of Silverton's innocence and therefore was able to attach her soul to Silverton's body whenever the innocence acted on its own, which occurred when the first akuma had arrived in Earthridge. Silverton had been sleeping at that time and the innocence destroyed the akuma while she was unconscious. In that brief moment of time, Nova attached her spirit to Silverton and took over her body. Nova then used this body to flirt with adult men and make her little sister's body look like trash at the bar that Jethese brought the exorcists to. Once the level two akuma showed up and all the exorcists where vulnerable to attacks, the akuma tied to shoot Lavi. At that time, the innocence within Silverton's body reacted and protected him from the bullet. Since the innocence was acting on its own again, Nova's soul was forcibly detached from Silverton's body. Since Silverton had been sleeping the first time the innocence acted of its own will, once it had done it again and forced Nova out, Silverton's body collapsed as she was continuing to sleep. Silverton had absolutely no memory of anything that was happening around her while Nova had control.

"Who knew innocence was capable of such things…" Bookman said, assessing the situation. "However, you are aware that since she is an accommodator of innocence, she has to be brought back to the order with us. She needs to be under the supervision of a general."

Tsamo smiled. "I'm well aware of that. In fact, I knew today would be the day she achieved her goal of becoming an exorcist. However, she is already under a general's supervision. She just hasn't trained with him personally yet. I assumed that's why you were sent here, Kanda."

Kanda finally understood.

"When I discovered she was able to destroy akuma, the first person I made aware was Froi Tiedoll. I told him that it was Silverton's wish to be my apprentice but she also needed to be connected to the Black Order. Froi then permitted me to train her myself until the day I felt she was ready to move onto being an exorcist. Silverton has never met Tiedoll before, but now she's finally ready to become his disciple, alongside you, Mr. Kanda."

It was around 12:30 and Tsamo was in the kitchen preparing lunch for his guests. He found no reason for them to leave immediately, and he wanted to enjoy having Silverton around while he could, since she would be leaving for the Black Order later that day. Allen was in the kitchen with him, helping in any way that he could with the food preparation. Bookman was in the main room, continuing to look through the records on the Sages. Lavi was in the upper level room making his bed and packing up his things while Kanda was using the room at the end of the hall to meditate.

"Mr. Walker, would you please hand me the olive oil? It's over on that shelf." Tsamo said as he was preparing lunch.

Allen nodded. "Oh, sure!" He grabbed the oil off the shelf and handed it to him with a smile.

Tsamo took it and smiled back at him. "Thank you. You're so kind to stay and help. It's nice to have another hand in the kitchen."

"Well, I figured since I was going to eat most of it, I should probably help make it. It's the least I could do." Allen said.

"It certainly makes things easier for me," said Tsamo as he cooked. "I'm not used to making such large meals."

Allen tilted his head. "But, isn't Silverton a parasitic accommodator?"

"Yes, however unlike you, she doesn't need to eat more than usual to get energy to activate her innocence. Instead, she sleeps more than usual. She's slept for five days straight before, but I don't let her do that often."

"I've never heard of that before…I guess it works just as well to build up energy." Allen said as he began chopping vegetables. "Hey, speaking of, where exactly is Silverton?"

Tsamo looked behind him at Allen. "She's most likely in her bedroom right now. If you all weren't here, I'd have her meditating. However, since Mr. Kanda is using that room, she probably won't go in there. Silverton can be very shy around strangers. I think she's afraid you all will ask her questions, and she doesn't like talking to people who've met Nova."

"Why not?"

"It's because they tend to expect her to be a certain way, such as her behavior or even her voice."

"Her voice?"

Tsamo nodded. "Yes. The high pitched voice you heard before was Nova's voice. Do her a favor, would you, Walker? When she first makes the decision to speak in front of you, please don't mention it sounding different from before. It bothers Silverton to know that she doesn't match other's expectations."

Allen smiled. "I'll keep that in mind."

Meanwhile, Kanda meditated upstairs. The room was peacefully silent. His eyes were closed and he was perfectly relaxed. Unlike the night before, his mind was now cleared. His breath was smooth, like the air around him. The only thing he could hear was the hummingbirds outside the open window. The only thing he could feel was the cool spring breeze. The only thing he could smell was the many beautiful flowers from the garden outside. Occasionally, the wind would blow in through the window and blow flower petals into the room that would then gently rest on his body and the floor around him. Everything about this moment was peaceful and calming.

The wonderful silence was broken as Lavi swung the door open. "Hey, Yu, have u seen my socks? I took them off earlier and now I can't find-"

Mugen was now at the red headed boy's throat. "DO…NOT…SAY…MY…NAME…" Kanda then peeked behind Lavi to see Silverton walking towards them in the hallway. He sheathed his sword and took a deep breath. "Don't interrupt my meditation to ask me about your socks, you moron."

Silverton tapped Lavi on his shoulder.

Lavi turned around. "Oh, hey, Nov-..er..Silverton."

She didn't respond. Instead, she gave him a look that was meant to imply, "Get out of my way."

Lavi obviously didn't get it. "Something wrong? What's the matter? You okay?"

She grunted a little before grabbing the collar of his shirt and yanking it, slamming him into the wall and out of the door way. She then calmly walked into the room and sat on the floor and began meditating, without saying a word.

Lavi opened his mouth to say something to her but was stopped by Kanda, who then shook his head and signaled for him to leave. He knew he was going to be fighting alongside her before long, and it would be best to get acquainted with her now.


	15. Chapter 14

After saving them from an akuma, Allen, Lavi, and Kanda brought Silverton to the Sage's home, where it was revealed that she was actually the Sage's Apprentice, not Jethese. It was explained that Nova, Silverton's deceased older sister, was previously the accommodator of Silverton's innocence and therefore was able to attach her soul to Silverton's body whenever the innocence acted on its own, which occurred when the first akuma had arrived in Earthridge. Silverton had been sleeping at that time and the innocence destroyed the akuma while she was unconscious. In that brief moment of time, Nova attached her spirit to Silverton and took over her body. Nova then used this body to flirt with adult men and make her little sister's body look like trash at the bar that Jethese brought the exorcists to. Once the level two akuma showed up and all the exorcists where vulnerable to attacks, the akuma tried to shoot Lavi. At that time, the innocence within Silverton's body reacted and protected him from the bullet. Since the innocence was acting on its own again, Nova's soul was forcibly detached from Silverton's body. Since Silverton had been sleeping the first time the innocence acted of its own will, once it had done it again and forced Nova out, Silverton's body collapsed as she was continuing to sleep. Silverton had absolutely no memory of anything that was happening around her while Nova had control. After everything had been sorted out, Tsamo revealed to Kanda that Silverton was to be the disciple of General Froi Tiedoll just like him. Kanda knew he was going to be fighting alongside her before long, and it would be best to get acquainted with her now.

It started off with nothing but silence. Kanda and Silverton sat there beside one another meditating without acknowledging each others presence even the slightest bit. Every once in a while, Kanda would peek out with one eye to watch her carefully. He still kept thinking of Nova trying to touch him inappropriately back in the bar. He had a feeling that Silverton was embarrassed about it by the way her cheeks were turning red. It was as if she knew his eyes were on her, despite her own being closed.

"Your eyes - Let me see them." Kanda demanded from out of nowhere.

The girl grunted a bit. Then, she turned her head towards him and slowly opened her eyes, revealing their mysteriously deep blue color.

Kanda nodded his head with gratitude. "You know, when I first met you, your eyes weren't blue. They were violet."

Silverton's eyebrows narrowed with anger.

"Don't give me that look." Kanda stated, "You know it's true."

She made a fist, but instead of hitting him like she wanted to, she simply took a deep breath and continued meditating.

"What's your problem?" Kanda said, just before he realized what the answer to that question was. "You're mad because I'm mistaking you for your sister, aren't you..?"

Without looking at him, she nodded her head once.

Kanda looked away from her and closed his eyes, just as she was. "…You're eyes are much more beautiful than your sister's."

Shocked at his statement, she opened her eyes widely and looked at him cautiously. She relaxed her body and reached over, resting her hand on his shoulder.

Feeling her surprisingly warm touch, the dark haired exorcist turned his attention back to her. He found her face was much different in some way. Up until that point, the only face he'd ever seen her wear was one filled with either anger, pain, or boredom. But now, he could tell from the corners of her lips curling upwards that she was, in fact, smiling.

Moments later, Tsamo's voice called out from the kitchen for everyone to gather for lunch. It was very uneventful, yet again. The only difference really between this lunch and the last night's dinner was the fact that Silverton was now filling the once empty seat beside Tsamo.

After they'd finished, the exorcists packed up their things and departed for headquarters along with the new recruit, Silverton. Tsamo insisted to tag along until they were to exit Earthridge.

"I wonder how she's going to adjust to being an exorcist…" Allen whispered to Lavi.

Lavi nodded. "Yeah…but I don't think we should worry about it. She'll be just fine. She's awfully powerful already, and that's before training with a general. She should be a great ally on the battlefield."

"That's true…I guess…depending on whether or not she's willing to cooperate…" Allen suddenly received a hard punch in his left shoulder. He looked over to see Silverton, who was obviously not happy at how he'd doubted her. "What the heck was that for?!"

She snarled and walked ahead of them with her arms crossed tightly.

Allen glanced over at Lavi and gave him a face as if to say, "_Did you just see that bitch punch me?!_"

Lavi shrugged his shoulders.

Tsamo walked up to the two irritated and confused young men and whispered to them, "She'll loosen up. Just give her time."

Just as they were preparing to leave the town, a slightly familiar voice yelled out to them, "Wait! Hold on!"

Bookman, Lavi, Allen, Kanda, Tsamo, and Silverton all turned around to see a silhouette of a young boy running after them. When it had gotten closer, they were able to tell that it was the same little boy who'd first tipped them off about Silverton having destroyed the akuma.

The boy stopped once he'd reached them. "You…you aren't leaving, are you?" He seemed to be speaking to Allen, Lavi, and Kanda. "I thought you were going to find it…You were looking for Silverton….weren't you…?"

The exorcists looked at each other with confused faces. "Well, you see…"

"NO!" The boy yelled, "You can't leave until you find it! You gotta find it…" The boy looked very upset for some reason, like he'd wanted to burst into tears.

None of the exorcists knew what to say. They kept looking at each other questionably. They opened their mouths, but no words came out. They all knew who Silverton was, but they weren't sure if they were supposed to tell him, or keep it a secret. The last thing they wanted was a reason to get punched in the shoulder.

Silverton approached the boy, whose face was flushed red with disappointment in the young men who stood before him. She kneeled down in front of him and, for the first time, she spoke aloud. "Why are you crying?"

Kanda and Lavi both dropped their jaws at the sound of her voice. It was significantly more mature sounding than when they'd heard Nova's voice at the bar. Allen and Tsamo, however, smiled a bit.

The young boy wiped snot from his nose with his sleeve. "…I…I ain't cryin'!"

Silverton stroked his cheek with her thumb and showed him the tears that had been running down his face. "Then what is this?"

Accepting defeat, the boy began bawling his eyes out. "You can't leave 'til you find it! YOU CAN'T!"

"You're talking about Silverton?" She asked.

He sniffled. "Yeah…"

She looked at the boy with her bold blue eyes. They showed no pity, no remorse. The eyes she showed him were strong and powerful. When he noticed her stare, his whole body stiffened as he waited for what she was going to say next.

"Why are you crying over Silverton?"

He gulped and answered hesitantly, "Because…because it saved me…"

"And?"

"…and…I need…to thank it…"

"Why?"

"…I coulda been eaten by the monster…but it saved me instead…"

"How are you to know that Silverton isn't a monster as well?"

The boy stared into her powerful eyes without an answer.

Silverton yawned and casually scratched her head. "So, you're crying because you wanted to thank Silverton for 'saving' you and you can't because these three didn't find it for you?" she said, pointing to Lavi, Allen, and Kanda. "Pfft. This 'Silverton' thing probably isn't even worth crying over in the first place. Why should you thank it for saving you? I bet you would've been able to take out that monster all by yourself without Silverton, am I right?"

The boy wiped his eyes. "But…"

She flicked his forehead. "No buts! Not unless you're some kind of wimp."

Now his eyebrows narrowed and his tears were beginning to dry up. "I-I ain't a wimp!"

She smiled at him. "Exactly. If anyone's a wimp, it's probably Silverton. I'll bet it darted off after saving you because it was just SO scared of how big and strong you are!"

The boy's face lit up. "You bet I'm big and strong!"

She smirked and stood up in front of him, placing her hand on his head and scruffing up his hair. "Someone as big and strong as you doesn't need a wimp like Silverton for protection! So don't worry about finding it, that would be a HUGE waste of time."

He smiled brightly. His face was courageous and proud. "Yeah, I don't need that wimp!"

The boy's mother was calling out to him again. He looked up at the brown haired girl, who then winked at him and gave him two thumbs up.

As the child ran off, she called out, "Go get 'em, tough guy!" and watched as he turned back to smile and wave.

The exorcists stood there in awe. Her back was still turned to them, as she was watching the boy run off in the distance.

Tsamo smiled proudly. "That was very sweet of you, Silverton."

Silverton placed her hands in her pockets and faced them, finally. Then she started to walk past the men without smiling anymore.

The Sage chuckled and nudged the exorcists who remained staring at her. "That's my apprentice for you!"

Silverton stopped walking and smirked, without looking back at them. "Shuttup, Master…"


	16. Chapter 15

**There will be some serious OOC-ness with one of the characters in this chapter. PLEASE continue reading it to the end so you can read my explanation at the end of chapter 17.**

**...**

"PREPARE FOR THE ENTRY EXAM!" The gatekeeper hollered.

Finally, after a confusing few days in Earthridge, Bookman, Lavi, Kanda, and Allen had managed to retrieve Silverton and bring her back to the Black Order HQ to begin training as an exorcist.

After the quick scan of Silverton's body, the gatekeeper yelled out, "YOUUUU MAAAY PAAASS!" and the gate slowly opened, granting access into the building.

The five of them walked through the massive hallway, all of them silent. None of them had even tried speaking to Silverton ever since they'd left her home town. Allen assumed she was thinking about her master who stayed behind by the way she held her head low and stared at the ground as she walked. In a way, he'd wondered what it felt like, since he himself could never 'miss' his master.

The four men walked her up to Komui's office and opened the door, only to reveal its cluttered mess of papers littering the floor. Komui was sitting at his desk drinking coffee and in the seat in front of him sat General Tiedoll. The two of them both turned their attention towards the door.

"Back so soon?" Komui said with a small smile.

Tiedoll rose from his seat and approached them. "Even I expected you four to be gone longer than this. I trust you gathered all the information you needed, Bookman?" The elderly man spoke.

"Gathering information was the least of our troubles." Bookman replied. "We found far more than that."

"Such as…?" Komui spoke from his desk.

The exorcists parted down the middle only to make the brown haired girl visible to them. Silverton stood there with her arms crossed and her eyes averted from everyone.

Bookman gestured to the girl and stated, "This is the Sage's apprentice, Silverton. We brought her here because she is an accommodator of innocence."

"Is that so?" Tiedoll said with a welcoming smile. He held out his hand to her. "I'm glad to finally meet you, Silverton. I'm General Tiedoll, your new mentor."

Unsurprisingly, she completely ignored him and continued to look down at her feet.

-12:13pm-

In the cafeteria, Lavi carried his tray of food over to the table Allen was sitting at. Allen swallowed the large gulp of food in his mouth and said, "Hey, Lavi, have you seen Silverton anywhere?"

Lavi sat and shook his head. "Nah, I haven't seen her since we left her in Komui's hands. Maybe she's with General Tiedoll or something."

"MMH!" Allen grunted after he had just stuffed a loaf of bread in his mouth. "Hmm-mm-mm-mmh!" He was now pointing over by the large entryway where Silverton peeked in curiously, holding a black notebook. She laid her eyes on an empty table in the corner of the cafeteria and snuck inside; sitting all alone at the table with her back against the wall and the notebook in her lap, hoping no one would bother her.

Lenalee waltzed up behind Allen and Lavi, who where both looking across the room at Silverton. "Hey, you two! I haven't seen you lately. Were you on another mission?"

Allen turned around and glanced at his cheerful pig-tailed friend and swallowed another large bite of food. Like Allen and Lavi, Lenalee wasn't wearing her uniform. "No, we weren't on a mission this time around, but it kinda felt like one after a while…"

"Oh? How come?" Lenalee glanced up at Lavi, who's eyes were fixated on Silverton. "Hey…who's that girl over there? Is she a finder? Why isn't she wearing her uniform?"

Lavi looked back at Lenalee from over his shoulder. "You mean Komui didn't tell you? We brought her back with us on our last trip."

"She's an accommodator of innocence. Her name is Silverton." Allen added.

Lenalee smiled. "That's great! We found another piece of innocence AND an accommodator!" She strutted around the table and headed in Silverton's direction.

"Uh…Lenalee, where are you going?" Allen asked, concerned.

"I'm going to introduce myself, of course!" Lenalee stated, and continued walking towards her.

Lavi opened his mouth to warn her of how anti-social Silverton was, but instead he chose to sit and watch. "This should be interesting…" He whispered to Allen.

Silverton noticed Lenalee approaching her out of the corner of her eye. She'd hoped the girl was just walking by, but as she expected, Lenalee was headed straight for her.

Lenalee stood in front of the quiet girl with a cheeky smile on her face. "Hello there! My name is Lenalee, I was told your name was Silverton, it's nice to meet you!"

For once, Silverton decided to acknowledge someone's presence. She looked at the girl who stood before her, and without even the slightest moment for thought, instantly was disgusted by her. The pigtails, the miniskirt, the voice, the smile, everything about this girl made her want to hurl.

Lenalee tilted her head when Silverton didn't answer. "Is something wrong?" She noticed the nasty glare she was being given, yet she didn't seem to take the hint. "Are you hungry? It's noon, you should get something to eat while you can! If you're going to be a full-fledged exorcist like me, you're going to need lots of energy!"

Silverton scoffed at her and thought to herself, *"_ 'full-fledged exorcist like me'…! Please. More like full-fledged tramp. I'm nothing like you._"*

Unwilling to accept her lack of response, Lenalee looked for another way to get a conversation going. She then noticed the black notebook resting gently in Silverton's lap. "What's this?" Before Silverton could react, the notebook was in Lenalee's grasp. "What's in here?" The nosy girl then positioned her hands to open it up.

The moment Silverton realized what the green-haired girl had gotten a hold of, she lunged out of her chair at Lenalee, knocking the chair to the ground and making plenty of noise, enough to get the attention of everyone in the cafeteria.

Lenalee held the notebook out of reach as Silverton desperately tried to grab it. "Hey, wait a second, I just want to see..!" Lenalee honestly didn't notice the hateful glare in Silverton's eyes.

"GIVE THAT BACK TO ME!" The brown haired girl hollered. Her eyes were narrow and her hands were tightly squeezed into fists. Although Lenalee's face in reality showed signs of fear or worry, in Silverton's eyes, all she could see was a devilish little grin, one that she'd seen on the face of her older sister, Nova, many times.

Lenalee backed away a bit. "H-hey…calm down I just wanted to-"

"I SAID GIVE IT BACK!" Silverton was cursing in her mind. What was it about Lenalee that reminded her so much of Nova? Was it her eyes? Her hair? Clothing choice maybe? The only certain thing was that Lenalee had stolen her notebook and Silverton would go to whatever lengths necessary to get it back.

"Just calm down already..!" Lenalee ordered as she again attempted to open the notebook. "What's so important about this thing anyway?"

Running out of options and patience, Silverton lunged at Lenalee again, this time fist first. Her knuckles crashed into Lenalee's jaw, sending her flying backward, leaving everyone in the room shocked. The notebook slipped out of Lenalee's grip after being punched and landed on the floor in front of Silverton, who then picked it up and furiously darted out of the cafeteria, before anyone could retaliate.


	17. Chapter 16

After a long and tiresome trip to meet the Sage of Life, the exorcists had finally brought back the Sage's apprentice, Silverton (an innocence accommodator), to the Black Order. Once there, Silverton met her new exorcist master, General Tiedoll, as well as Lenalee Lee. Silverton naturally took an instant disliking to the green haired girl, due to her strong similarity to Nova, Silverton's deceased older sister. Lenalee tried to greet the new soon to be exorcist and make friends with her. Sadly, it was short lived as Lenalee unknowingly angered Silverton by taking a mysterious black notebook from her, leading to Silverton punching Lenalee's jaw and taking the notebook before running out of the room.

Silverton raced down the corridor, clinging to the black notebook tightly at her chest. She was having mixed emotions – anger, a bit of panic, regret even. She knew everyone who'd witnessed the violent act was probably helping Lenalee out of the pathetic state that she'd been left in. Now, everyone hated her more. Great. At least Lenalee wouldn't be bothering her anymore though…right?

She stopped running at a narrow doorway. She recognized it somehow from when she'd been given a short tour by Tiedoll, but she'd completely forgotten what was inside. Yet somehow, she felt that it would be one of the few places where she would be accepted at the Black Order.

Silverton entered the room slowly and cautiously. It was a beautiful room, one similar to the one at Tsamo (her true master)'s home. It was a room for meditation, complete with a Japanese style paper window and a few elegant flowers blooming in pots. She walked into the room to see the entire thing and noticed something…someone she hadn't seen a moment ago.

"We meet again I see." Kanda spoke as he meditated. He hadn't even turned to look at her, yet somehow he knew. "Why are you here, Silverton?"

The brown haired girl walked a bit closer to him, but quickly stopped when Kanda turned around to get sight of her. Although she didn't want to, she said to him quietly, "May I stay here a while?"

Kanda turned back and continued his routine. "Only if you plan on meditating."

"I don't know where else to go right now." She admitted.

"Why is that?"

"I'd go to my room, but I don't know where that is either."

"You could just ask for directions."

Silverton looked at her black notebook regretfully. "As if anyone would want to talk to me after that…"

Kanda slouched on the floor, realizing he wasn't going to be meditating while she was there. "You did something stupid, huh?"

Silverton's eyebrow twitched with irritation. "Don't you think that could've been worded a little…I don't know…nicer?"

"What did you do? Just tell me and get it over with." The black haired exorcist demanded.

Silverton sighed and sat in front of him. "This girl with green hair started talking to me, and I didn't answer. Then she tried to take this from me," she signaled to the notebook in her hands, "and I'm very protective of it…she wouldn't give it back so I just punched her and took it and ran off."

Kanda rubbed the back of his neck. "So you punched her over a notebook?"

"Yup."

"What's in it?"

"None of your business."

"Why can't I know?"

"The only people who I let see inside this notebook are my friends…" Silverton looked away and whispered quietly, "Friends who I abandoned three years ago…"

Kanda studied her for a moment without speaking.

Feeling uncomfortable under his narrow eyes, she stared back at him. "The hell are you staring at?"

"You don't seem like someone who would have friends." Kanda said, soon afterwards realizing how that must have sounded.

"Hmph…" she grunted. "I probably don't anymore, anyways."

"Care to explain?"

"Why the sudden interest in MY life, eh?" Silverton questioned.

Kanda rubbed the back of his neck. "General Tiedoll says it would be best to try and get to know you." He paused for a brief moment. "He says he thinks you're similar to me somehow."

She scoffed, "That old man doesn't even know me. It's not his job to compare me to anyone. I'll be whoever the fuck I want. Who does he think he is to try and go telling other people who I am and what I- "

"If anything, I'd say you have similarities to the General." Kanda said while flipping through the black notebook he'd snatched from Silverton while she was ranting. "He's an artist too, you know."

Silverton gasped and tackled him. "Hey! Knock it off! Give it back to me!" she demanded, tugging on his long ponytail. She wasn't being as aggressive as she was with Lenalee, however, since Kanda had already seen the contents inside it and her secret was already exposed to him.

"Get off me, baka tsubaki!" yelled Kanda as he shoved the irritated girl off him.

She paused and thought to herself, *_"…Baka…what…?_"*

Kanda continued turning the pages, carefully observing each sketch on every page. "Who ARE they?" he said. "You draw them a hell of a lot."

Silverton sighed as she watched him flip through the pages of her past. She knew who he meant when he said 'they', for she knew that 'they' were drawn in the sketchbook several times. "Those two are my friends…or WERE rather…The one with the fluffy black hair is named Riche and the blond one is Drek."

"Are these the same friends you claimed to have 'abandoned three years ago'?" he questioned, surprisingly curious.

"Yeah….I thought you knew that story. Didn't my master show you the memories I stored in my golem?"

Kanda thought back. "He showed us a memory of you with Nova when you were young, other than that, nothing."

"I see. I guess Master was just trying to respect my privacy." Silverton said. "Those two were going to help me in a time of need, but I didn't want to cause them any trouble, so instead, I ran away. I haven't seen them or heard from them since."

"Oh…alright." Kanda tried to pretend he actually cared, when really, he just wanted to meditate.

Silverton grunted. "You really couldn't give a shit could you, Kanda?"

Kanda smirked. "Not in the slightest…"

"Thought so." The brown haired girl lightly punched his shoulder.

Kanda then sat back into position to meditate and Silverton did the same. "By the way, what should I call you?" the dark haired exorcist asked. "Silverton is just your last name, right? That's what your master said if I recall."

She paused for a moment. "You're the first person here to ask me that…and…I guess I'm cool with you…um…alright, but if I tell you, you better not call me it in front of other people! I'm only going to tell you just because I think I can trust you and-"

"Just say it and get it over with."

"Alyssa…well, I usually go by Lys, but I guess you can call me either one. Only you, only in private. I don't want everyone saying my name around here, it's such an embarrassing name…"

He couldn't help but chuckle. "You think YOUR first name is embarrassing?"

"Oh? Is yours worse?" she questioned, poking his arm jokingly.

He cursed himself in his head, *"_Damn it…she told me hers out of trust…urgfuckassshitbitchpissinmeo fffuckfuckfuck!_"* He cleared his throat. "My first name is….you better not call me this unless it's just the two of us!"

She giggled, "Just say it and get it over with, eh?"

Kanda blushed with embarrassment. "It's Yuu. Yuu Kanda." *"_This bitch better not laugh!_"*

Sensing his embarrassment, she held back her cackling and just smiled. "I think it's a cool name! I've never met someone with that name before." She reached out her hand to him "It's a pleasure to finally meet you properly, Yuu Kanda."

Kanda grunted and shook her hand firmly with a faint smile. "You as well, Alyssa Silverton.


	18. Chapter 17

**There will be some serious OOC-ness with Lenalee in this chapter. PLEASE continue reading it to the end so you can read my explanation at the end of this chapter. I promise, there are reasons for the OOC behavior.**

**...**

When Silverton was brought to the Black Order, one of the first people she met was Lenalee Lee. When Lenalee tried to introduce herself to the new recruit, she unknowingly angered Silverton by taking a mysterious black notebook from her, leading to Silverton punching Lenalee's jaw and taking the notebook before running out of the room. Silverton ran to the Black Order's meditation room and met up with Kanda. The two of them soon became well acquainted and Silverton openly discussed a private matter with him regarding two old friends (Drek and Riche) that she often drew in the black notebook. Eventually, they each felt comfortable enough to reveal their full names to one another.

Kanda sat on the floor of the Black Order's meditation room in silence. It had been almost two days since he'd learned Silverton's first name, and ever since then she'd been nowhere in sight. Tiedoll had been panicking, worried that she'd run away, but Kanda knew better.

Silverton entered the room. "Hey, Yuu." She greeted him.

"Where have you been lately? The General's been looking for you."

She got comfortable on the floor beside him. "He must not have searched too hard, since I've been in my room this whole time." *_gurgle_*

"What were you doing in there for two days?"

"Sleeping…and doodling a little in my sketchbook." *_gurgle_*

"Shh…" Kanda held out his hand to silence her. "Do you hear that?"

Silverton blushed. "H-Hear what?" *_gurgle_*

The dark haired man shot her a glare. "Is that…your stomach?"

*_gurgle_*

He rolled his eyes. "It is, isn't it?"

"So what," she said, "I feel just fine. I don't even feel the slightest bit-" *_gurgle_* "-…hungry…"

Kanda growled, "Baka tsubaki…you haven't eaten since the day you punched Lenalee, have you?"

She sighed and slouched, blowing her bangs out of her face. "Fine, I'll admit it, I haven't set foot in the cafeteria since then…" *_gurgle_*

"…"

"..."

*_gurgle_*

"Go get some food, moron." He scowled. "I can't meditate in the same room with your noisy stomach."

She fidgeted a bit. "But I-"

"Alyssa," He interrupted her, "If it's going to bother you that much, I'll go with you. Just remember, I'm not going to hold your hand and babysit you. You have to have the courage to stand on your own, got it?"

Silverton smiled nervously and nodded.

"What you do once you're in there is up to you. I won't stop you if you do something stupid again. Now, let's go already."

A few minutes later, Kanda and Silverton were outside the cafeteria entrance. She took a deep breath to compose herself before nodding to Kanda. "Alright, I can do this."

With that, he stepped into the crowded room with the brown haired girl following close behind him.

Silverton tried her best to avert her eyes from everyone else, but the more embarrassed she got, the more she could feel her face burn red and her heart pound in her chest. Every step she took echoed throughout the cafeteria, for everyone else in the room was dead silent, staring at her with hateful eyes. On occasion, she could make out a few whispers here and there going on around her.

"That's the girl who punched Lenalee!"  
"What's SHE doing here?"  
"Who does she think she is, showing her face here?"  
"I'd like to teach her a lesson!"

Kanda shot the obnoxious gossipers a nasty sideways glare, causing them to go silent. Once he and Silverton reached the other side of the room, he stopped at the counter and rang the small bell. As he waited for Jerry, he glanced over his shoulder at his nervous teammate, who was staring at the ground with her arms crossed and her shoulders shrugged; obviously feeling insecure and uncomfortable.

Jerry pranced over to Kanda from the other side of the counter. "Hey there, handsome! I assume you want the usual?" he said with a smile, not detecting the tension in the room.

"Yeah," the samurai answered, "Make it two orders of the usual."

As the flamboyant chef disappeared into the kitchen again, Silverton clenched her fist. *"_Damn it…it's not going to change anything…but I'm already in here…If all I do is walk in, get my food, and leave, everyone is still going to hate me…_"* She thought to herself, *"_Well, may as well take the chance. That's what my dad and Master Tsamo would want me to do…_"*

When Kanda looked back to check on her again, he was shocked to find that the girl was no longer standing directly behind him anymore. Instead, she was walking off in the direction of the table where Allen, Lavi, Bookman, and Lenalee sat.

She stood at the far end of the table, everyone's eyes fixated on her. Then she bravely spoke, "Lenalee, I…I've never been…very good at dealing with other people…When I'm around people I don't understand…who also don't understand me…I just get pissed off and do stupid shit…like a few days ago…when I punched you…it wasn't something I wanted to do…I just panicked because that notebook was something very important to me…I really never meant to do you any harm, I just…I didn't know what else to do, and…I know that doesn't justify my actions…It was stupid…and…what I'm trying to say is…Lenalee…I'm sorry…"

The room was still silent, however, this was a different kind of silence. She could still feel everyone's eyes on her, and her heart was still pounding like crazy. Maybe it wasn't the atmospheric silence lingering in the room that was different. Maybe it only felt different to Silverton in the room because it felt different in her heart. *"_Aren't you proud of me, Dad? I did what was right...!_"*

"Who do you think you are?" A voice sounded, breaking Silverton's self-pride. "You think you can just punch me, apologize, and everything will be better?" It was Lenalee. Although there's no way she would be able to admit it to herself, what Lenalee felt was total, utter defeat. No one had ever hit her out of anger, and over the past few days, she was fairly satisfied by how disgusted everyone had been towards Silverton. But, just then, Lenalee had felt the silence in the room change as well. But, she wasn't ready yet. She wanted to be praised and pitied by her comrades just a little bit longer, but Silverton's bravery to apologize under such intense pressure was crushing her glory.

Lenalee slammed her palms against the table in frustration. "You really are something, you know that? You've got some serious guts to show your face around here after what you did to ME."

Lavi and Allen were shocked by her furious reaction. Allen placed his hand on her shoulder to calm her. "Lenalee, please…"

She shot him a glare. "You're not seriously buying this innocent act of hers, are you Allen?" She directed her attention back to the brown haired girl who stood before her. "You think you've got everyone fooled, don't you? Well I don't buy it. It's pathetic, really, how far you'll go just to get pity."

Silverton had a flashback in her mind of Nova. Nova always used to say, '_You're so pathetic!_' because she knew the word bothered her. Yet again, this girl, Lenalee Lee, was becoming more and more like Nova in Silverton's eyes.

"Why don't you say something? Cat got your tongue?" Lenalee taunted her.

Silverton stood there in silence and tolerated her, the way she'd tolerated Nova for thirteen years. She simply pretended that what she was saying had nothing to do with her, and blocked her voice from her mind as best she could.

This pissed off Lenalee even more. "The Black Order is my family, and you are not welcome to be a part of it!"

Before anyone knew it, a dark blade was flung up to Lenalee's lips, silencing her. It was Kanda, holding an unsheathed sword to Lenalee's face.

The moment Lavi and Allen noticed this, they stood up from the table, ready to protect Lenalee if need be.

Kanda sent a narrow glare in Lenalee's direction, his powerful eyes meeting her terrified ones. "Shut your damn mouth before I cut out your tongue."

"Back off, Kanda!" Allen hollered from behind Lenalee, but this did nothing.

"How DARE you call her pathetic. The one who's pathetic is YOU, Lenalee. It's downright childish that you can't handle the fact that someone here took the attention off you. And how DARE you say she's putting on an innocent act. You have no idea how much courage it took for her to even consider setting foot in this room. She starved herself for two damn days because she was so disgusted by her own actions. She made the decision to be the mature one and right her wrongs, despite the way everyone was staring at her. Of all the people in this room, I'm the one who knows her the best, and I know the pain she had to suffer through. Maybe you should stop trying to exclude her from your 'family' just because you don't understand her. If anyone deserves pity, it's you for being such an immature, childish, selfish little brat with an inferiority complex."

Jerry, confused as to what exactly was going on, cautiously called, "Uh…Kanda, order up…?"

Irritated, Kanda sheathed Mugen and grabbed Silverton's arm. "Come on, let's go." He said as he handed her the tray of soba before taking his own. Then, the two of them exited the cafeteria, but not before Silverton could turn around and bow to Jerry and thank him for the meal subtly.

**...**

**::: Alright, I can tell I'm probably going to get quite a few hate comments for the way I made Lenalee behave. PLZZZZ let me explain. I wanted to write a story with characters that I could emotionally connect to, and I wanted to use two of my most dominating and contrasting emotional issues and distribute them between two characters. I used Silverton and Lenalee. Silverton has serious self-doubt and finds it difficult to admit her faults to other people, but has no problem pointing them out to herself. Lenalee has an issue where she can't accept 'defeat', typically in the form of maturity or intelligence. Therefore, when Silverton was mature enough to admit her faults to Lenalee, Lenalee tried to retaliate, but only wound up worsening her situation. It also has to do with enjoying glory, since originally everyone was on her side, she felt very defeated when the tables turned so suddenly. I hope that clears things up...**

**Also, I wanted to make Lenalee a more three-dimensional character. The way Lenalee is in the anime/manga is not to my liking. She is one of those female characters who have only one side to them. The whole, _everyone loves her, no one has any problems with me, I get along with everyone, I have no flaws._ Let's be honest, real teenaged girls are WAY more complex than that. We all get jealous and act immature at some point, and we all have that one thing that makes us tick. The actual character, Lenalee, by Hoshino Katsura, is not really a good description of a teenaged girl. In fact, she winds up being that female character to can't do anything, cries a lot, and has no real purpose in being in most situations. I wanted to change that.**

**This version of her shows another side to her that, I think, would make sense. This way, she's a more accurate representation of a typical teenaged girl. Although the change may upset some people, I actually would have liked Lenalee better in the first place if Hoshino made her a character like this. That would be a character who I can relate to. I promise, she won't be completely bashed on in this entire fanfiction. She's simply being used to contrast with Silverton right now. To be honest, however, they aren't quite as different as they may think... :::**


	19. Chapter 18

**::: Alright, I can tell I'm probably going to get quite a few hate comments for the way I made Lenalee behave. PLZZZZ let me explain. I wanted to write a story with characters that I could emotionally connect to, and I wanted to use two of my most dominating and contrasting emotional issues and distribute them between two characters. I used Silverton and Lenalee. Silverton has serious self-doubt and finds it difficult to admit her faults to other people, but has no problem pointing them out to herself. Lenalee has an issue where she can't accept 'defeat', typically in the form of maturity or intelligence. Therefore, when Silverton was mature enough to admit her faults to Lenalee, Lenalee tried to retaliate, but only wound up worsening her situation. It also has to do with enjoying glory, since originally everyone was on her side, she felt very defeated when the tables turned so suddenly. I hope that clears things up...**

**Also, I wanted to make Lenalee a more three-dimensional character. The way Lenalee is in the anime/manga is not to my liking. She is one of those female characters who have only one side to them. The whole, _everyone loves her, no one has any problems with me, I get along with everyone, I have no flaws._ Let's be honest, real teenaged girls are WAY more complex than that. We all get jealous and act immature at some point, and we all have that one thing that makes us tick. The actual character, Lenalee, by Hoshino Katsura, is not really a good description of a teenaged girl. In fact, she winds up being that female character to can't do anything, cries a lot, and has no real purpose in being in most situations. I wanted to change that.**

**This version of her shows another side to her that, I think, would make sense. This way, she's a more accurate representation of a typical teenaged girl. Although the change may upset some people, I actually would have liked Lenalee better in the first place if Hoshino made her a character like this. That would be a character who I can relate to. I promise, she won't be completely bashed on in this entire fanfiction. She's simply being used to contrast with Silverton right now. To be honest, however, they aren't quite as different as they may think... :::**

**...**

When Silverton first arrived at the Black Order, she got herself into a fight with Lenalee over a black notebook that turned out to filled with sketches of her old friends. Kanda had helped Silverton go get food, since she was too nervous to do it alone. When they arrived, Silverton attempted to apologize to Lenalee, who then tried to provoke her in order to make Silverton look bad. Kanda supported his new found friend and put Lenalee in her place before they exited the cafeteria.

Everyone in the dining hall stood there and watched as Kanda and Silverton swiftly left the room. There was pin drop silence all around, until Lenalee broke it and collapsed back into her seat. Tears began pouring from violet eyes as she cried, "I can't believe Kanda did that to me…Look what that girl has done to him…I was so scared!"

Allen sat beside her and hugged her closely. "Oh, Lenalee, please…It's alright…You know how Kanda can be sometimes…" Allen pleaded out of concern for his weeping friend.

Lenalee continued, "He's never looked at me like that before…It's because of that girl…"

Lavi carefully observed the scene that was before him. Lenalee's eyes were filled with tears, but her cheeks weren't red and her eyes were not bloodshot at all. Her voice wasn't quivering and her breath wasn't staggered. Lavi, the successor to the Bookman, could easily tell that this was an act.

"Really, I don't think she meant any harm, Lenalee…" Allen said, "She really did look like she was sorry-"

"Whose side are you on, Allen? I thought you were my friend!" Lenalee yelled at him.

Lavi thought to himself, *"_The whole point of this is to make Silverton look bad. Maybe Kanda was right…Maybe Lenalee really just can't handle the spotlight being taken off of her…_"*

"Who is responsible for this?! Who made my dear sweet sister cry?!" Komui hollered as he darted into the cafeteria. Without hesitation, he ran to Lenalee's side and shoved Allen out of the way. "Who did this, Lenalee..? You're big brother is here for you!"

Lavi thought, *"_If I say something in Silverton's defense, she'll probably say something about me being a disloyal friend like she did to Allen…_"* he barely glanced over at Bookman, who was sitting beside him. *"_I'm not ready to handle that kind of pressure. I'm not supposed to have friends, as the successor to the Bookman._"*

"THAT FIEND!" Komui yelled after listening to Lenalee's sob story about what happened. "She must pay for making my dear sister cry!"

"Calm down, Chief!" Allen demanded as he held Komui back, who was trying to race out the door and attack Silverton. "She had good intensions, really!"

Lavi set down his fork. "Allen's right. I think Lenalee just misunderstood her." He stated with Lenalee obviously irritated. *"_Maybe…we're all just misunderstanding her. Yuu obviously see's something in her that we're all blind to…_"* "Maybe we should just give her a chance."

It was silent in the meditation room as Kanda and Silverton ate their soba noodles. Occasionally, they would sneak a glance over at one another as they slurped. They refrained from speaking up until the moment when they both caught each other glancing awkwardly and quickly looked away.

Silverton set down her chopsticks and wiped her mouth off with her arm. "Hey," she looked at Kanda.

He paused his eating and looked back at her calmly. "What?"

She smiled and suddenly wrapped her arms around him.

"W-What the fuck are you-?" he began to protest as he slightly struggled against her grip.

Silverton hugged him closely with a bright smile. "Thank you for being there for me, Yuu. I'm glad to have you as a friend."

He sighed and patted her head with his hand. "You're welcome. Let go."

"You know," she began, still latched onto him, "Before we went to the cafeteria you acted like you weren't going to intervene…"

He grunted. "I wouldn't have had you not just stood there and let Lenalee walk all over you."

"So…does that mean I can count on you from now on?"

"Tsk. Don't get used to it. Now get off me and eat your damn noodles."


	20. Chapter 19

After punching Lenalee, Silverton built up her courage and apologized for her actions, much to Lenalee's disliking. After Kanda went against Lenalee and supported Silverton instead, Lenalee put on an act of pity; an act that Lavi, the Bookman's successor, could easily see through.

"Run, Nova! RUN!" Silverton pleaded.

A thundering bang.  
Spattered blood on the walls.  
A deafening scream.  
A family photograph.

"It's your FAULT!"  
"You did this!"  
"You're fault!"  
"YOU'RE FAULT!"

Silverton's eyes shot open as she sat up in bed. She was in a cold sweat and had hot tears burning her skin as they rolled down her red cheeks. Her breathing was unsteady and her heart had been pounding against her chest painfully hard. She wiped her face with her clammy hands and threw her dizzy head back against her pillow. *"_The same reoccurring dream again…_"*

She checked the time. It was 6:52. Was it the morning or the evening? Silverton never knew her whereabouts when she woke up, since she always woke up at weird times. For all she knew, she could have been sleeping for days. She stood up and stretched and walked over to the window, opening her curtains. She saw the sun. Was it rising or setting? Was this east or west? "Damn it…" she yawned. She hated the confusion.

The brown haired girl lazily changed into a tank top and her usual white pants and cautiously walked out of her room, without any shoes or socks and without brushing her matted hair. She slumped forward, dragging her feet with each step, and placed her hand on the railing. She looked down into the deep pit below her. There were a few floors with dorms both above and beneath her in the octagon shaped area. Every floor looked the same and every doorway was identical. She silently chuckled, and then she belted out, "Helloooooooooooooo!" Her voice echoed throughout the open space as it ricocheted off the stone walls. She was waiting for someone to barge out of their room and tell her to shut up. Although she was expecting Kanda, she found someone else completely.

"Um…hello? Could you please help me..?" A woman's voice answered from one of the hallways.

Silverton looked up to the floor directly above her and saw the woman looking down at her with worried eyes.

"Um, I'm so sorry…I'm lost, I can't find my room…I'm new here, my name is Miranda Lotto…" Miranda reached down to shake hands with Silverton, and let out a mix between a shriek and a yelp as she clumsily stumbled over the railing.

"Whoa, hey!" Silverton grabbed the airborne Miranda's hand and caught her, leaving Miranda dangling over the edge with an empty pit beneath her.

"I'm so sorry!" The woman cried as she was pulled to safety.

"Nah…" Silverton panted. "Don't mention it…Damn, you gave me a scare…"

"I didn't mean to! I'm such an idiot!"

"Yo, it's cool, seriously." She dusted herself off. "Your name was…Amanda, was it?"

"Miranda, actually." She held out her hand. "I'm new here at the Black Order. I've only been an exorcist for about a month and I'm afraid I still don't quite know my way around HQ…"

"Oh, nice meeting you," Silverton shook her hand. "Uh, I don't think I'll be much help at finding your room. I'm new here too, been here for…maybe a week..?" *"_Depending on how long I've been sleeping…_"* she thought.

"Are you a part of the science division?"

"No, I'm an exorcist."

Miranda smiled. "Really? Where is your innocence?"

"Well, you can't really see it." Silverton answered.

Miranda tilted her head. "Why not?"

"Because it's-"

"Oh, hey Miranda. I see you've met Silverton." A voice interrupted.

Miranda turned and smiled at the man who spoke to her. "Good morning, Section Leader Reever."

Silverton let out a sigh of relief. *"_Good, it's morning. I woke up at a decent time…for once._"*

Reever set down the large stack of papers he had been carrying. "Oh, General Tiedoll is looking for you Silverton. He's in the training area."

Reever was one of the first people Silverton met when she'd arrived at the Black Order. She'd gotten a chance to speak with him a few times when he'd given her directions to her room. He was one of the few people who didn't mind the situation she'd had with Lenalee.

"Oh, The training area…which is where, exactly?" The brown haired girl questioned as she scratched her head.

He sighed. "Alright, as soon as I deliver these documents to the chief, I'll show you there myself."


	21. Chapter 20

After having another reoccurring nightmare, Silverton left her room to go bother Kanda. Before she got the chance, she met Miranda Lotto. Shortly after their meeting, Section Leader Reever showed up and told Silverton to go to the training area, offering to escort her there himself.

"Here we are." Reever said as he walked into the training area with Silverton and Miranda close behind.

Inside the room were four men, two of them familiar to Silverton. "Welcome, I've been waiting for you. How are you Silverton?" General Tiedoll spoke as he noticed his newest disciple enter.

*"_Great…THIS idiot again…_"* the young girl thought as she crossed her arms and scowled at him.

"I'd like you to meet your new comrades." He stated as he signaled to the other three men standing in the room.

One of them darted over to her and grabbed her hand, much to Silverton's surprise. "Hey there, the name's Daisya Berry." He said as he kissed the back of her hand. "And who might you be?"

Silverton growled and used her free hand to slap him across the face, leaving a satisfying red handprint on his cheek. She then wiped the back of her hand off on her pants.

The two remaining men both face palmed. "Daisya, leave her alone." One of them demanded. The man was tall and black, and his eyes seemed to be closed. He bowed to her respectfully. "I am Noise Maurie. I've heard a lot about you. It is an honor to finally meet you." He greeted her.

General Tiedoll waited for the remaining man to introduce himself to her. "Come on, Kanda, your turn."

The samurai rolled his eyes. "We've already met."

"Oh?" Tiedoll began, "and when was this?"

"Never thought you had it in ya! I didn't expect you to put the moves on her before me, good goin' Kanda!" Daisya teased.

Kanda shot him a murderous glare. "Wanna live?"

"Now, now, you two! Not in front of these two lovely ladies." Tiedoll turned his attention to Silverton. "I didn't just call you down here so you could meet these three. I also wanted to begin training you today. I was informed that your innocence seems to be quite unstable."

*"_UNSTABLE?! Who the fuck is this guy, anyway?"* _She thought._ *"I'm gonna make this bastard eat those words_."*

A few minutes later, the training area had more than just Tiedoll's unit in it. Sitting on the sidelines were Miranda, Allen, Lavi, Bookman, Lenalee, Reever, Johnny, and Komui; all there to witness the first training session with the new recruit, Silverton.

"Here's how this will go," Tiedoll explained, "You're going to spar with each of your teammates individually, and I will grade your performance. The use of innocence is allowed. First up is Maurie."

Kanda and Daisya sat on the sidelines with the others. Maurie and Silverton stood across from one another in the center of the room.

"You may begin whenever you see fit." Tiedoll instructed.

Maurie wasted no time and quickly activated his innocence. "Noel Organon, activate."

Silverton watched as thin wires whipped out from the rings on each of his fingers. The wires began surrounding her loosely in the air. It didn't take long for her to figure out what his next move was. Just in time, she flipped backwards, barely before the wires could wrap around her and constrict her. She slid back upon landing and lunged towards him at top speed. As she ran, she was forced to dodge left and right as Maurie's wires were snapping like whips at her every time she left an opening. When she'd gotten close enough to the tall man, she did a quick flip that sent the heel of her foot crashing into Maurie's jaw. Maurie took the hit and quickly took advantage of the situation, wrapping the wires around her ankle and lifting her into the air. Now she was hanging upside down like a piñata. This severely pissed her off.

Before Silverton could really lash out at him, Tiedoll interrupted. "That's enough. This match was won by Maurie."

"WHAT THE HELL? SERIOUSLY?!" Silverton yelled, still dangling upside down. She hadn't even gotten started, and yet the General already called her loss. This severely pissed her off even more. However, she planned to take her fury out on her next opponent.

Maurie gently set her down on her feet. "My apologies, I didn't mean to humiliate you."

For once, he felt lucky to be blind, since the girl had just raised her middle finger to him.

Daisya leapt up from his seat and went to the middle of the room as Maurie took his place. "Watch out, I'm not goin' easy on ya just because you're a chick." He said, winking an eye at her.

She hungrily accepted his challenge, ready to redeem her pride that was slowly slipping away.

Tiedoll signaled, "You may begin whenever you-"

"CHARITY BELL, ACTIVATE!" Daisya hollered as the bell began to enlarge as he kicked it into the air like a soccer ball. "Take THIS!" He sent the bell hurtling in the brunette's direction.

Her first instinct would have been to dodge out of the way, but the last thing she wanted to do was look like a coward, especially after how ridiculous she looked when Tiedoll ended her spar with Maurie. So, instead of a speedy side-step, she kicked the bell back towards Daisya. Daisya returned the favor by doing the same. The bell whistled through the air back and forth. Everyone on the sidelines had trouble keeping an eye on it as it moved so quickly from one person to the next. Then, Silverton unexpectedly dodged, breaking the pattern. The bell began flying back towards her. *"_Perfect_"* she thought. Before the bell could hit her, she leapt up and placed both feet on it. The bell sent her flying straight for Daisya, who hadn't had time to react. Before he knew it, her fist plunged itself into his gut and his back slammed against the stone wall behind him. The bell stopped and rolled on the ground. She had him pinned and knocked senseless.

Just before she could punch him again, Tiedoll called out, "Enough, this match was won by Silverton."

She growled, wishing he hadn't ended it so early. *"_Oh well, at least I won._"*

She backed up off Daisya, who then slowly walked off, clutching his stomach. He passed Kanda on his way back to his seat and stopped him. "Hey, Kanda, this chick ain't messin' around, she's a feisty one alright…"

Kanda ignored him and walked to the center of the room and stood across from his irritated friend.

Again, Tiedoll called, "You may begin whenever you see fit."

Kanda smirked at her. "You need a chance to catch your breath?"

She smirked back and replied, "I'm ready whenever you are."

He gripped his sword's handle and pulled it from its sheath. He thought to himself, *"_She hasn't used her innocence at all yet. Hmph. That's about to change._"*

The two of them slowly walked in a circle, cautiously staring each other down, watching each other's every move. By now Kanda had figured out she wasn't used to making the first attack. She preferred to wait for her opponent to strike and then weave her way through their attacks in order to make her move. However, Kanda also fought the same way. He wasn't about to let her use his strategy against him.

Kanda's blank expression was making her nervous. She could tell he wasn't going to attack first and the idea of being the first to swing frightened her. She felt her legs shake and hoped he hadn't noticed. Yet, sure enough, he had. She knew this because the moment he saw, the corner of his lips curled into a taunting smirk. Now she was really pissed off. Not only was she pissed off at Kanda's subtle taunting, but at herself for being even the slightest bit intimidated. Then, as if on cue, the two of them both attacked one another simultaneously.

Kanda swung Mugen, aiming for her head, and Silverton slid her foot at his legs, hoping to knock him off his feet. His reaction time was flawless as he spun out of the way, much to her surprise. She quickly somersaulted away as Kanda swung at her again. She got back to her feet and faced him. He let himself loose as the sword sliced through the air over and over. Silverton nimbly avoided each attack. Although he had a sword drawn to her, she tried her best not to activate her innocence. She remembered how painful and shocking it was when he had first cut her hand a week ago when they met, and she never wanted to forget how her blood looked as it slid down the blade. She never wanted it to happen again.

Kanda listened to her breathing as she dodged. She wasn't breathing easily. He noticed beads of sweat flying as she spun out of the way. *"_She almost seems scared...No, more like nervous. She was completely different when fighting Maurie and Daisya. Why is she acting differently all of a sudden?_"* He swung at her again, this time with his fist instead of Mugen. She quickly grabbed his fist, thinking she finally had a chance to hit him, before realizing she been backed into the corner with him towering over her, holding his blade behind him. As she held back his fist, he noticed her arm was shaking and looked her dead in the eyes. He whispered to her through his gritted teeth, "What's the matter with you, Alyssa? Fight back, damn it! I know you have innocence in you, so don't wimp out on me just because of this stupid sword!"

Even though his tone was firm, she knew it was partially meant to comfort her. It was his way of telling her to calm down. She smiled at him and kicked him away from her. She knew she could win this fight, but to do that, she'd have to give in to Kanda's demands.

Kanda gave her a moment to step away from the corner before lunging at her again, this time with his sword. She didn't dodge out of the way; in fact she stood there and prepared for the blade to contact her skin. She smirked and grabbed onto the sword with her bare hand. No blood was drawn, in fact when her hand gripped onto the shining blade, a loud clanking sound rang throughout the room. It was the ring of metal contacting metal. Kanda and Silverton smirked at one another as everyone in the room was suddenly on the edge of their seats as they noticed her hair was no longer boring and brown, but shimmering silver. Finally, she'd given in and activated her innocence.


	22. Chapter 21

Silverton pulled the blade of Mugen with her hand in an attempt to rip it from Kanda's grasp, which wasn't likely to happen. Kanda twirled, still gripping the handle, and turned the blade sideways, forcing the girl's hand to release it. Once he was free, he backed away, still prepared to defend himself.

Tiedoll was thinking about ending the spar right then and there, but seeing as how Kanda had finally gotten her to activate her innocence, he chose to let it continue.

Silverton, with her silver hair and nails in a fully activated innocence, stood firmly. Suddenly, two large silver blades formed out of her arms. She dashed at her black haired opponent, her arm blades cutting through the air. Kanda dodged her attack and at the same time, swung his sword at her. The two of them repeatedly swung and dodged by twirling around one another. To everyone else, it seemed so effortless. They spiraled around one another in the center of the room with blades drawn, their long hair twirling with every step they took. They both moved so gracefully and aggressively at the same time as they knocked each other's blades away before attacking again. They were both sweating and breathing heavily as they spun around and around. It almost looked like the two of them were in an elegant dance, despite their real struggle to keep balance.

Out of nowhere, a voice sounded in the room. "Enough!"

Silverton and Kanda both instantly froze in place at the sound of the General's loud voice. Their feet were tangled from the spinning, but standing firmly. Silverton's back was barely pressed against Kanda's chest as she looked up at him and he looked down at her. Their eyes were in a lock and had been that way the entire time they fought. Both of them were expressionless and faintly panting. However, they each had their blades to one another's throats at the same time.

"It's a draw." Tiedoll announced.

Kanda lowered his blade and Silverton did the same. They stepped away from one another, partially out of respect, and partially because the position they'd been in seemed a bit awkward.

Silverton deactivated her innocence and let her hair fade back to its natural brown color. She looked down at her hand, the one that she'd used to clutch the sword with both just now and a week ago. She was a bit relieved, since she wasn't entirely sure if the blade would cut her with her innocence activated. Luckily, it hadn't.

"What the hell was that?" Daisya's obnoxious voice sounded. He raced over to her and grabbed the hand she'd been looking at and observed it closely. "What the-? Why the-? How the-?"

"That was very intriguing. You're innocence is remarkable, my dear girl! I'm shocked it was able to protect you from being hurt by Kanda's innocence." General Tiedoll praised her.

She yanked her hand away from Daisya and crossed her arms. "Pardon me? Aren't you the one who said my innocence was 'unstable'?"

"Oh my, I didn't mean to offend you when I said that! I hope you'll forgive me. I certainly don't want to get on your bad side like Lenalee did, am I right?" the elderly man said as he glanced over at his shoulder at Lenalee, who'd seemed to have disappeared at some point along with Komui.

Reever and Johnny walked up to Silverton and studied her arms and hair. Reever asked, "You're a parasite type, alright. But where the heck is the innocence located on your body?"

Johnny, who'd been rubbing her arm weirdly, said, "There isn't any wound or scar or…any indication of that huge blade ever being here on her arm!"

"If you back the hell off me, I can explain." She demanded.

Daisya, Reever, and Johnny all did as they were told and gave her some space.

She sighed and sloppily walked over and took a seat beside Bookman and Lavi. "The blade you saw came from my bones. My bones are made of innocence-induced silver. I'm able to extract a silver blade from my bones on any part of my body that I please. And no, this will in no way damage my skin."

Everyone surrounded her, totally fascinated. Even Kanda was a bit surprised. "Your bones?" Reever said, "Wow, I'm not entirely sure the chief will have a way to operate on YOUR innocence. I don't think someone like Komui can safely bring a knife that far beneath human skin." He and Johnny chuckled.

"Knife?" Silverton questioned, "What makes you think something like that can break my skin? So far, the only blade that's ever cut me while I've had this innocence in me was Kanda's sword, and even so, it'll only break my skin when my innocence in inactive."

Bookman asked, "But why is that?"

"Why can Kanda's sword only pierce your skin when your innocence is inactive?" Tiedoll said.

"And why can't a normal knife cut you at all?" Lavi added.

Silverton stood up from her seat and put her hands in her pockets. "There's a reason why I didn't want to activate my innocence, and that reason was because I knew I'd get all you fucktards asking me questions. 'Why this? Why that?'" she mocked, "I'm leaving. You people are pissing me off again." She started walking away.

General Tiedoll placed his hand on her shoulder. "No, please, stay here. We won't try to pry answers from you if you don't want."

Silverton turned and looked at the shoulder his hand was on. "Pardon me? Aren't you the one who said you didn't want to get on my bad side?"

Kanda smirked at her smart mouth. *"_Heh, maybe she is a bit like me in some ways."_*

General Tiedoll released her shoulder and she continued walking out of the room.

The brown haired girl was walking towards the meditation room. She felt the need to relax after all the sparring. However, before she could get there, she heard a familiar voice call out to her from down the hallway. "Wait, Silverton! Hold on a second!"

A few minutes later and Silverton had joined the person in their room. Silverton sat on the bed with her legs crossed. "What's up, Miranda?"

Miranda sat on her bed with her legs crossed as well and faced her. "I'm so jealous of you…"

Silverton looked at her with confused eyes. "Jealous? Of me? Why?"

Miranda sighed. "You're even newer to the order than I am and you can already actually put up a fight…my innocence has been turned into a weapon already and even so I still can't use it to destroy akuma…"

"So what? I'm sure you're innocence is still really unique and amazing. What does it do?" Silverton asked.

"Me?" She lifted her head at her. "Oh, my innocence can control time."

Silverton looked at her, a bit shocked. *"_Holy crap, and here I was thinking she reminds me a lot of my friend Riche, but this? That can NOT be a coincidence!_"*

Miranda blushed a little. "Your innocence isn't the only thing that makes me jealous of you…"

"Then what else?"

"Well…the way you are with Kanda…"

Silverton nearly gagged on her own spit. "Y-You have a thing for Kanda?!"

"NO!" Miranda protested. "I'll admit there's someone…I'm attracted to…but it's not Kanda! I meant because the two of you were so close to each other…and the way you fought seemed so…romantic…"

Silverton burst out in a genuine fit of laughter. "Haha! Don't be ridiculous, we were about to freaking kill each other! You call that romantic? So, who's this guy you like?"

"Don't tell me you didn't notice the position the two of you were in!"

"Well sure, I noticed it was a little awkward, but I mean, if I had feelings for him and I was that close to him, I'd probably have fainted right then and there! Don't get the wrong idea, he and I are close, but not THAT close. By the way, I can't help but notice that you completely avoided my question. I asked who it was you liked."

Miranda twiddled her fingers shyly. "Okay but…please don't tell anyone, alright?"

"Alright, shoot."

Miranda leaned in and whispered in Silverton's ear.

"PPFFFT HAHAHA!" Silverton promised herself she wouldn't laugh, but that was too much. "CHIEF KOMUI?! You can't be serious!"

Miranda tried to cover her loud friend's mouth. "Shh! Silverton, what if someone hears you?!"

The girl wiped a small tear from her eye. "Aw, that is RICH! Sorry for laughing…it's just so funny!" She straightened herself out. "By the way, you can call me Lys from now on. That's my first name. 'Silverton' is too formal of a name to be called by a friend." She extended a hand out to her. "You told me a secret, so now I'm telling you one, got it?" She winked at her.

Miranda smiled softly and shook her hand. "Alright then, Liz. I won't tell anyone if you won't tell anyone."

"Deal." She replied. "But I'm going to start calling you Amanda if you start calling me Liz instead of Lys. It's got an 'S' sound, not a 'Z', okay?"

"Sorry, Lys."

"Don't mention it, Amanda."


	23. Chapter 22

"How has she been doing?"

"Well, she could be better."

"What do you mean? She's not being disrespectful is she?"

"Perhaps a bit. She seems to want to keep to herself. She has ways of pushing people away from her."

"My apologies. I promise you, she is not as cold as she may seem. She's actually quite kind and sweet when she wants to be, but often times her immaturity gets in the way."

"I don't think its immaturity…more like insecurity."

"I suppose. If that is the case, then she's likely to lighten up once she feels she has nothing to hide."

"I hope you're right about that."

After exchanging goodbyes, Tiedoll ended his phone call with Tsamo. Tiedoll understood how much his old friend missed having his apprentice around. Several times, he'd offered to put Silverton on the phone so Tsamo could talk to her, but every time he had, the Sage refused. "She needs to be independent. She needs to learn how to make decisions for herself." Tsamo would always say. "She's afraid to make friends with different people. I think it would be best for her to overcome those fears on her own."

Silverton pondered. "Anything I want?"

"That's right! Anything you want!" Jerry stated from behind the counter with a welcoming smile.

From what she'd noticed, people didn't give her much grief anymore for her situation with Lenalee. Sure, they weren't exactly fond of her, but they didn't bother saying anything to make it known.

Silverton peeked over her shoulder at her samurai friend, who was sitting alone in the dining hall eating soba noodles. She remembered the delicious flavor they had from when she first ate them with Kanda. She looked back to Jerry, who patiently awaited order. "I don't know what it's called, but can I have what Kanda is having?"

"Sure, hun! One order of soba noodles coming right up!"

A few minutes later, Jerry handed Silverton her tray. She walked over to the table Kanda sat at and poked his cheek.

Caught off guard, he snapped his head around, ready to scold whoever was trying to irritate him. He slowly calmed himself when he laid eyes on the brunette smirking at him. "Oh, it's just you. What do you want?"

"To sit here." She answered as she sat beside him.

Any other time, he wouldn't have minded, but a part of him would rather she sat somewhere else. He knew if Daisya saw them sitting together, that idiot would make some smart-ass comment about Kanda 'putting the moves on her.' He glanced over at the girl's tray. She was eating the same thing he was. "Hey," he said, interrupting her slurping. "Are you copying me?"

She swallowed the noodles in her mouth. "You know, I almost didn't order this because I had a feeling you'd say something like that. But, then…" she took a large mouthful of noodles and spoke at the same time. "…I thought, 'Fuck that! I do what I want, Biotch!'"

Kanda rolled his eyes and continued eating. Then, he heard a voice he most definitely did not want to hear.

"Hey there, Kanda! I'm not interrupting you two lovebirds, am I?" Daisya teased as he sat across from them. Judging by the fact that he didn't have a tray of food with him, he was only there to irritate them.

Silverton choked on her noodles and coughed. "Lovebirds? Where the hell did you get that idea?"

Daisya stroked his chin with a cocky smirk. "A guy as perfect and flawless as I am can tell. You don't gotta hide it around me, honest!"

Kanda held Mugen to the hooded man's throat. "Keep talking, and I'll raise your voice a couple of octaves."

In truth, Kanda couldn't imagine himself falling for her, or for anyone, for that matter. He had to admit, she had admirable qualities, but none that would take that kind of effect on him. She was just a close friend whose company he enjoyed…most of the time at least. But at times like these, he wished she would sit with Miranda.

"Well, obviously you aren't as perfect and flawless as you seem to think," Silverton said to Daisya. "Because you're wrong about the whole 'lovebirds' thing."

Daisya smirked deviously. "That right? Then why are you always together? I bet the two of you have been doing stuff 'behind the scenes', haven't you?"

Silverton's eyes narrowed viciously. "What are you trying to say, Bell Boy?" She growled. "If you honestly think I'd stoop that low, you're sadly mistaken."

"What? You've got the body for it!" the hooded man winked at her.

Her eye twitched with irritation. "You're gonna get kicked in your bells if you don't shut the hell up! I'm not here for your entertainment."

Kanda rubbed his temple and grunted out of annoyance. "Why don't you find someone else to bother, Daisya?! I'm not in the mood!"

General Tiedoll peeked into the dining hall where his disciples were interacting with one another. His black golem perched itself on his shoulder as it aimed straight for the female. He spoke into the golem quietly, "As you can see, she's a little rough around the edges, but I think she will do just fine as an exorcist. Stop worrying so much, Tsamo. She'll be just fine here. She's even made a few friends, from what I've noticed."

Tsamo's voice silently emanated from the golem, "I'm glad my apprentice is doing okay. I'm sorry to be such a bother to you, Froi."

"Don't worry about it, it was no trouble at all. In fact, it warms my heart to know how much you care about her well-being. I fully intend to train her to the best of my ability until she is a top notch exorcist. In fact, Chief Komui Lee and I have begun planning to take her out on her first mission. Have some confidence in her Tsamo."


	24. Chapter 23

(Somewhere in a remote location)

The man opened the glass door and calmly stepped outside. He was dressed in a white button down shirt and blue jeans, unlike his typical formal attire. He stepped his bare feet in the grass and admired the view of the lake behind his family's house. He walked out to the dock and sat on the edge. He rolled up his pant legs and began wading his feet in the water below him. He leaned forward to see his own reflection in the softly rippling water and began chuckling at his curly black hair being particularly messy. The man pulled a box of cigarettes from his pocket and opened it, sliding a cigarette out with his teeth. He was just about to light it when he suddenly heard footsteps on the dock running toward him fast. He jerked his head around in surprise only to see a purple haired young girl charging at him with her arms open and the biggest smile he'd ever seen. "Hey, what the hell are you trying to-?!"

The girl tackled him, sending the both of them into the lake water with a splash. The man popped his head out of the water with his curly black hair drenched and his unlit cigarette floating just beside him. He growled at the girl, who daintily paddled through the water like she was having the time of her life.

"What the hell was that for?" He hissed as he climbed out of the water and back onto the wooden dock. "What's got you so excited, Road?"

The girl giggled and pulled herself from the water as well, only to wrap her arms around his waist, since she couldn't reach his neck. "You've been mingling with those filthy sub-humans for too long, Tyki! I never get to see you anymore!" She whined.

"That's no reason to shove me in the lake." He said blankly. He made his body intangible and the water fell onto the dock, drying his soaking wet clothes and hair completely. "Now I have to buy a new pack of cigarettes." He complained, noticing the pack had fallen out of his pocket into the lake.

"AW!" A new voice came from behind Tyki and Road. "Why'd you have to dry yourself off like that, Tyki-pet! You looked so sexy all drenched in water in a white shirt! ~"

Tyki's eye twitched with irritation. "I thought I asked you not to call me that, Lady Millennium…"

The woman tipped her hat and did a curtsy. "Nice to see you again, Road. Have you invited the others?"

Road curtsied in return. "Of course, Lady Millennium! I've invited all the family to the Lake house as you instructed."

"Speaking of which," Tyki interrupted, "What did you want to gather us all here for, anyway?"

The Millennium Countess strutted over to him and pressed her body against his chest in a flirtatious manner. "All in good time, Tyki-pet. ~" She whispered with a wink.

The man backed away from her and began walking back to the house.

"Tyki-pet! ~ Where are you going? ~" The woman asked.

Before stepping inside, he answered, "To take a shower." He shut the door behind him and leaned his back against the glass door with a sigh. He looked down at his hand and admired his skin being white rather than grey. He thought back to where he was just before Road had called him to the family Lake house: He was with his friends, Clack, Momo, and Eez. It was hot and he'd been mining as usual while Eez sat on the sidelines wearing the same surgical mask he always wore. Tyki had just found a shining silver stone and tossed it to the young boy. Eez would always nod and say, "Thanks, Tyki!" with his weak, young voice muffled. Tyki always loved hearing those words and watching as the boy's cheekbones would become more prominent, indicating that a smile was hidden behind the white mask.

He brought himself back to reality as he realized that he himself was smiling at just the thought alone. He remembered what Road had just called Tyki's friends a few minutes ago: Sub-humans. He hated the word. It was degrading and segregating and insulting and…overall, plain old rude. He didn't want to think of himself as being any different than one of them. No matter what family you come from, everyone is capable of being happy and smiling, even the young boy with asthma and the two men living on the streets. Over the years, he memorized all of their individual smiles. Especially the smile of a young girl he once knew. Her smile was one of his favorites. Up until a certain day…

"Oi, Tyki!" A voice resounded in the building.

He glanced over to the hallway as he noticed two figures pointing guns at one another. "Hello Devit, Jasdero. I see you two still haven't decided to kill each other yet."

"Look who's being a smart-ass!" Devit hollered as he and Jasdero aimed their golden guns at the older man.

"Hee hee! Shoot him in the mouth!" Jasdero chimed.

Tyki started walking away, as he remembered why he'd come inside in the first place.

"Oi, Oi! Where do you think you're going?" The black haired twin yelled.

Tyki stuck his pinky in his ear to plug it. "Would you lower your voice? You're in a building. Go outside if you want to yell. I'm going to take a shower."

Jasdero stomped his foot. "He turned his back to us! Can we shoot him? Pretty please?!"

Devit lowered his gun as he looked out the glass window to see the Millennium Countess watching them with her hands pressed against the window like a creep. "Nah, Dero. Lady Millennium is here."

Tyki stepped in the large bathroom with a towel tossed over his shoulder. He locked the door behind him and hung his towel on the curtain rod. He took off his white collared shirt and disregarded it onto the floor. He undid his belt and gave it the same treatment. Once he'd completely stripped naked, he stepped into the shower and turned the water on. The water hit his skin cold, giving him chills, before slowly warming, filling the air with steam. As the steam washed over his pores, he began to think. About the girl. The girl whose smile he admires so much…No, used to admire. Now he hated her smile, right? He tried to sort out his feelings as he lathered up his black locks with shampoo. *"_I do not care for that girl. She's in the past. I'm over it._"* He thought. He remembered the way she used to care for Eez. She used to sit with him and sing songs that she'd heard on their crappy radio. Oh, how he loved her voice… *"_No. She's nothing special. She's the enemy._"* He remembered her goofy smile; the way it was always just a little bit crooked, the way she'd squint her eyes and try to cover her face…He thought it was really cute. *"_There's nothing to like about her. She's no different than any other girl._"* He remembered the first time their lips had locked. How soft her lips felt against his, the way she'd always melt into his arms at the sensation. He always closed his eyes and savored the delicious passion between them. Oh, how he loved her… *"_She's in the past…I do not love her…I do NOT love her!_"*

"Want me to scrub your back for you, Tyki-pet? ~"

The voice shocked him beyond belief as he quickly pulled the shower curtains to cover his private areas. "WHAT THE HELL?! How'd you get in here, Lady Millennium?!"

The sassy woman giggled devilishly and winked at him. "Oh, Tyki-pet! ~ You look so sexy! ~ It wasn't fair that I didn't get to have a good look at you by the lake, but now you're not only soaking wet, but you're naked and blushing! ~ Oh, you look so cute and sexy at the same time! ~ You're not the only one who's wet. ~"

"GET. OUT." He demanded.

"Oh, but the fun's just begun! ~" She teased.

Tyki reached up and grabbed the towel that was still hanging on the curtain rod and hastily wrapped it around his waist, careful not to expose himself in front of the flirtatious woman. He was NOT about to let her put those tainted hands of hers on ANY part of his body. Without warning, he became intangible and passed through the wall behind him, leaving the shower water running. He was now in the kitchen wearing nothing but a towel, right in front of Road, Devit, and Jasdero.

Immediately, the three of them began laughing hysterically. "Did Lady Millennium sneak a peek, Tyki?" Devit managed to say between laughs.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" He hollered, his face as red as a beat.

"Oi, were in a building! Go outside if you wanna yell!" Devit replied sarcastically.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Tyki grasped the towel tightly as he stomped up the staircase to go and get himself clothed. "Screw the shower…it's not even worth it."


	25. Chapter 24

Lately, Silverton had been on both of her masters' minds. Tiedoll and Tsamo had been conversing on the phone about Silverton for a while, discussing her becoming an exorcist. Meanwhile in a lake house in an unknown location, the Noah family had been gathered together by the Millennium Countess to discuss something. Before the whole family arrived, Tyki Mikk took a shower. It was in this shower that he began trying to sort out his feelings for a young girl who was a part of his past. Was it love?

Tyki had already dressed himself in his room with the door locked. He flopped down on his back on his soft, white, king-sized bed and sighed. He stared up at the ceiling fan that slowly spun around above him. He turned his head to his left and eyed the emptiness on the pillow beside his head. *"_She always liked to sleep on the left side…_"* he remembered. He quickly shook his head and looked away. *"_I HAVE to stop thinking about her! She's in the past, damn it!_"* He slowly turned and looked back at the pillow. He imagined her head resting upon it, her dazzling eyes fluttered shut with her long eye lashes. Her chest would rise and fall ever so slowly as she drifted off into a peaceful slumber. He missed sleeping beside her. He wondered where she was right now…

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard a fit of gunfire coming from outside the lake house. He shot up off the bed and hurried out to see what was going on. "The hell?! What are you two shooting those stupid things at?" He hollered at the twins, who were pointing their guns out the window into the forest.

Jasdero ignored him completely and screeched, "Nobody has blonder hair than Dero!"

Tyki walked over to them. "What are you talking abou-"

"There was this babe out there spying on us in the bushes!" Devit explained, his gun still pointed in the trees outside the building.

"A girl? Spying?" The Millennium Countess said as she approached them. She chuckled deviously. "Well, we can't have that, now can we, Tyki-pet~? Whoever she is, go get rid of her. I don't need filthy vermin crawling around here." The woman hissed sadistically.

This side of her was the one Devit and Jasdero were most afraid of. Despite this, they protested, "No way! That bitch is our prey!"

"I agree!" Road's voice sounded. "Why does Tyki get to have all the fun?!" she whined.

"All of you, shut up! I instructed Tyki-pet to eliminate her. Not you. You are unneeded. Tyki is the only one who can catch her right now. Now GET GOING!" the Millennium Countess demanded impatiently.

Tyki did as he was told and quickly made his way outside. He made the air around himself thinner, enabling him to move faster. He passed through each of the trees and bushes as though they weren't even there. He followed odd looking tracks that had formed on the moist ground, leading him straight to wherever the mysterious girl was hiding. In the direction of the path of odd tire tracks, he could hear a rumbling motor sound he'd never heard before. "That must be the girl."

He grinned and hid himself away as he quickly caught up with her. The blond girl had been having a hard time getting around, what with all the plants and trees. She stopped the weird motors and began walking normally, looking around to check if anyone had been following her. Not seeing the wavy haired man who was quite close by, she decided the coast was clear.

"Hey, Riche! We gotta get the hell out of here! We aren't the only ones out here!" She called to a small tent hidden away.

A black haired girl poked her sleepy head out of the tent and stared questioningly at her friend. "Huh, we gotta leave again?"

The blond stomped over to her and grabbed the girl's arm hastily. "You wanna die?! These crazy sons of bitches got guns!"

The black haired girl started waking up more. "Guns? Who? What's going on Drek?"

Tyki decided it was just as good a time as ever to make himself known to the two young women. He appeared just behind the blond, much to both of their surprise. "Hello there, ladies. What might you be up to?" He said with a smile.

Drek could easily tell that just beneath the surface of that soft smile was danger. She swung her arm at him, only for it to pass through him completely. She gasped and the girl halfway in the tent started to tremble.

Tyki tilted his head and smiled wider. "I'm afraid that won't do you much good. How about you just cooperate and no one will go home in a body bag, okay?"

"Like hell I will!" Drek hollered and swung the heel of her foot at him.

Tyki was stunned when it knocked him in the jaw. It caught him off guard entirely. He stepped back and held his face in his palm, trying to process this. He began chuckling softly, getting a bit pissed off. "I see…" He spoke, glaring up at the blond. "You have...innocence."


	26. Chapter 25

The Noah family had been gathered together by the Millennium Countess to discuss something important. However, before anything could be discussed, Jasdero and Devit discovered a girl spying on them. Lady Millennium sent Tyki out to eliminate her, all the while discovering the girl was not alone. The girl's name was Drek and her friend that was traveling with her was named Riche.

Drek swung her arm at Tyki, only for it to pass through him completely. She gasped and Riche started to tremble.

Tyki tilted his head and smiled wide. "I'm afraid that won't do you much good. How about you just cooperate and no one will go home in a body bag, okay?"

"Like hell I will!" Drek hollered and swung the heel of her foot at him.

Tyki was stunned when it knocked him it the jaw. It caught him off guard entirely. He stepped back and held his face in his palm, trying to process this. He began chuckling softly, getting a bit pissed off. "I see…" He spoke, glaring up at the blond. "You have...innocence."

"What do you mean by 'innocence?'" Drek questioned demandingly.

The curly haired noah started to laugh. "You mean, you don't know? It's in those shoes of yours, from the looks of it."

Drek grunted and glanced down at the white shoes strapped to her feet. She knew they were extraordinary, but nothing beyond that. She'd assumed she'd been somehow chosen to wield the power stored within them. She was about to ask how he knew they weren't normal, but then she remembered how her arm passed through him without any resistance like he wasn't even there and chose to set that thought aside. This man was extraordinary as well.

"I don't suppose you could just hand it over peacefully, could you?" Tyki politely asked before a grey tint slowly spilled over his pale skin. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. What'll it be?"

Riche hastily stood up firmly beside her companion, prepared to help defend her. The two girls locked eyes for a moment and nodded in sync with confident smirks etched across their faces. "We're always up for a challenge."

"So much for self-restraint… Very well, then."

Black glowing butterflies fluttered out from Tyki's body. The Teez began rapidly swarming the girls, until their bodies were completely covered. Tyki heard a shrill scream erupt from one of their throats as the Teez nipped away at their flesh.

"Hmph. Easier than I thought." Tyki muttered. "Teez, devour them completely. I don't want a mess to clean up."

"You're gonna be a mess when I'm done with you!" Drek's powerful voice called from beneath the mountain of Teez. A bright light pierced its way through their black fluttering wings. The strange rumbling sound echoed in the trees much louder than before.

*"_She's activated it..?_"* thought Tyki, eager to see if she could get free.

There was a massive explosion of light that only lasted maybe a fraction of a second, burning every last Teez until they were nothing but black ash. After the light died down, all that could be seen was Drek standing over Riche with her anti-akuma weapon activated. The shoes had transformed into knee-high boots with large tires on the heels that were revving like engines. The expression on the blonde's face was pure hatred. "Riche, get out of here. I can take this creep. I'll catch up with you later."

The dark haired girl protested worriedly, "There's no way I can-!"

"Just do it! Your ability isn't one that we should waste!" Drek said.

Tyki stroked his chin and listened in on their conversation. *"_Her…ability? Could they…both be accommodators?_"*

Riche nodded and quickly darted away into the forest before disappearing behind the cloak of fog.

The noah laughed, "Whatever. I'll kill her all in good time. I don't mind if you come first. Makes no difference to me."

"Don't get so cocky. I'm not going down that easily." Drek hissed before lunging at him.

She swung her heel at him again and again. Tyki defended himself with a shield of glowing Teez to avoid her rapid attacks. When the tire contacted his grey skin, she called out, "Triple speed!" causing the wheel to spin around and around, burning his skin and leaving black skid marks.

Tyki gripped onto her ankle with his bare hand and flipped her over, knocking her to the ground. He pinned her down by straddling her waist. He gripped her throat and squeezed as hard as he could, trying to snap her trachea. His other hand formed a Teez on it as he placed it over her forehead.

The blond struggled to get free, gasping for breath. "G-Get….the h-hell…off…ME!" She managed to twist her leg around him in such a way as to kick him in the ribs with her motor boots. When it didn't damage him enough, she quickly activated level two and slammed her heel into the dirt as hard as she could, causing them both to launch off the ground suddenly.

Tyki accidentally released her neck out of shock, but soon realized what happened...somewhat. He made the air beneath his feet tangible and stood on the invisible surface he'd created for himself.

Drek had catapulted herself fairly high in the air. However, her boots were incapable of flight, and she found herself plummeting back downwards.

As she fell down where Tyki stood in the air, he quickly grabbed her ankle, catching her before landing. "Not bad, girl." He half-complimented her with a smirk.

Having dealt with his mocking attitude long enough, she used her free leg to kick him in the face, her tire spinning and burning his face.

The noah covered his face and growled viciously, "Ohoho~…you're gonna regret that, stupid woman!" He tightened his grip on the girl's ankle, right around her boots. She was about to kick him again to get free, before hearing a loud crack.

Pain. She felt pain. It wasn't the kind of pain she was expecting. It wasn't physical pain, or at least she didn't think it was. It was something else…Like a presence within her had shattered into a thousand pieces. What cracked?

"TIME OUT!" a familiar voice hollered.

Suddenly, all time around Drek seemed to freeze. She recognized the technique immediately. "Riche? Is that you?" She called frantically.

Riche ran through the trees holding a golden scepter in her hands. "Reverse!" She yelled, and slowly Tyki's hand released its grip from Drek's ankle unwillingly and the blond collapsed into Riche's arms. "I can't hold this for long, we better go!" Riche explained, trying to tug Drek's arm away.

Time still frozen around them, Drek said, "Hold on, what is…this..?" She reached forward and picked up a strange white shard that lay on the ground beside them. She looked down at her boots where Tyki had been holding her only to find a large crack and a piece missing. The white shard was a piece of her innocence that Tyki had crushed.


	27. Chapter 26

The cool breeze weaved its way through Silverton's hair as she walked along the rocky path. She admired the pink petals gently drifting down from the flowered trees around her. She'd been just outside the Black Order sitting alone with her black sketchbook with pencil in-hand for about 40 minutes. She was taking a break from drawing by strolling around and enjoying the scenery. "I wonder how they're doing…" She thought as she flipped through the pages of her sketchbook. She stopped on a drawing of her, Riche, and Drek. It was a lively picture; one filled with smiles and laughter. Silverton sighed and thought back to the night; the night she abandoned them…

_"Dear God…what happened?!" Silverton heard Drek's voice from within the darkness._

_Silverton peeled her eyelids open. She was laying in carriage that had just stopped outside Drek's house. Her blond friend was beside her, climbing into the carriage. _

_"Lyssa, can you walk?" Now, Riche's voice could be heard from her other ear. "How long have you been awake?"_

_Silverton's mind was foggy. Her vision was blurry and her head was throbbing. She tested her mobility by wiggling her fingers and bending her arm. Her clothes were stiff, like something had soaked up and dried on them. She felt pairs of arms lifting her up sloppily as they hoisted her out from the carriage. _

_Next thing she knew, she was laying on a sofa in Drek's house. She had to have blacked out again at some point, since she found herself in new clothes; ones with less crust. She felt a liquid drowning her brown hair and froze. She shakily gripped onto a handful of hair and held it in front of her face to look at it. Her shaking subsided as she realized it was only water. She let out a sigh of relief and let go of the clump of soaked hair. _

_Drek and Riche kept trying to talk to Silverton, who wouldn't say a word. In reality, Silverton could barely hear them talk at all. Their voices were like mumbles in heavy rain. Her friends tried to give her food, but she wouldn't eat. She couldn't eat. In fact, she knew she wouldn't be able to keep food down for days; especially after what she'd seen. The images flashed through her mind at rapid speeds…_

_Her mother._  
_Her sister._  
_Her brother. _  
_Spattering blood._  
_The floor._  
_The ceiling._  
_Silver._  
_Darkness. _

_The brunette felt her head start to spin as she toppled over._

_"Hey, Lyssa!" Drek called, catching her shoulder. She started to shake her to wake her up. "Don't you pass out again! Riche, maybe we should take her back to her house. Her dad might be able to-"_

_Screams of terror erupted from Silverton's throat. "NO! NOT THERE!" Her voiced cracked and screeched, "ANYWHERE BUT THERE!" tears poured from her eyes like rivers down her cheeks. The flashes began again…_

_Her sister._  
_Her father. _  
_Silver._  
_Her brother._  
_Bloodstains. _  
_Silver._  
_A light._  
_A family photo. _  
_Silver. _  
_Darkness._

"Hey Silverton!"

A voice called out, snapping Silverton's head out from her intense flashback. She quickly shut her black sketchbook as she noticed her eyes had glazed over. *"_Quit being so…pathetic._"* She told herself. She looked up the path further to see a familiar looking figure waving his arms, trying to get her attention. She couldn't remember his name, but she recognized his white hair.

"Over here!" he called out again.

"What do you want?" she hollered in response.

The boy made his way over to where she was standing under the trees. "Hey, you need to report to Komui's office. He and General Tiedoll have a mission for you."


	28. Chapter 27

Shortly after recovering from an intense flashback of her past, a boy informed Silverton that Chief Komui and General Tiedoll had a mission for her. They were now walking back into the Black Order.

The boy opened the door for her and said, "Uh, my name is Allen Walker. If I'm not mistaken, when I first met the Sage of Life, he told me it was his apprentice who wanted to meet me…is that right?"

She nodded her head without speaking. She remembered Kanda describing him as 'Moyashi' or 'Beansprout'. *"_This guy's taller than I am!_"* She smirked. *"_I'll have to get back at Yu for calling me short, now._"*

Allen found her silence awkward, and tried to continue the conversation. "Did you want to meet me because of my innocence?" He asked in a curious voice.

She nodded her head again. It was true. Ever since she discovered her own innocence, she'd taken a particular interest in it. She'd wanted to meet this boy because he was so well known for his parasite type innocence. Since parasite type innocence was something that was capable of binding Nova's soul to her own body, Silverton wanted to know everything she could about it.

"Well…here I am. So…what do you want to talk about?"

Silverton smirked. *"_ I'm gonna get on this guys nerves. I hope this works!_"* "I don't converse with beansprouts." She winked at him as she turned the corner and walked away from him.

When she arrived in Komui's office, she saw four men waiting for her arrival. Komui sat at his desk with Reever standing beside him. On the sofa in front of him sat General Tiedoll and Kanda.

Tiedoll turned and looked at her from over his shoulder. "Ah, Silverton! Come join us." He scooted over on the sofa and patted his hand on the cushion. "Have a seat, young lady."

She sat between Kanda and Tiedoll and took the papers Reever handed her.

Komui unscrolled a map. "Your destination is in Rouen, France. There have been some usual disappearances in the area as of late; particularly men. We sent two others there to investigate already, and the male has gone missing as well. The female, Miranda Lotto, is in need of assistance. The first thing you must do when you get there is contact Miranda. Any questions?"

Kanda's deep voice asked, "Who was the male exorcist who went missing?"

"That'd be Lavi, the Bookman's apprentice." Reever answered as he set down a stack of papers.

"You'll need to depart immediately." Komui added. "Dismissed."

Kanda and Silverton both stood up to leave the messy office.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Tiedoll said as he pulled out a bag from behind the sofa. He held it out to Silverton. "You'll need to wear this when on missions. It's standard dress for professional exorcists."

Silverton followed her samurai friend down underneath the Black Order. When they reached a narrow canal, they climbed into a small raft. Just as they were about to push off, a voice sounded through the darkness. It was Reever, waving them goodbye and yelling, "Please bring Miranda back safely!"

"We will, no worries!" Silverton called back as they drifted away. Just as Reever was out of sight, Silverton relaxed herself on the raft beside Kanda. "Hey, Yu, who was Lavi again?"

"He's the Usagi with red hair and an eye-patch." Kanda answered with a bored tone.

"Oh, that guy…" Silverton's cheeks went red as she imagined him in her mind. She let out a small giggle without noticing.

The giggle caught Kanda off guard. "The hell was that?" He asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"What was what?"

"You…giggled."

"No I didn't!"

"I'm pretty sure you did, actually."

Silverton crossed her arms over her flat chest. "I can't help it, okay? I find him very…attractive…" She smiled and looked away, hiding her embarrassment.

Kanda tilted his head. *"_Why is she so…open when talking to me? This isn't something most girls would tell a guy. Most girls would discuss this with OTHER girls. Maybe, since she doesn't really seem very girly in general, she'd rather hang out with guys anyway. That's probably the reason she's so comfortable around me…yeah. Something complex like that…After all, girls are complicated._"* He nudged her with his elbow. "Hey, why are you telling me this? Why do you trust me so much, Alyssa?"

Silverton looked up at him with bright, honest eyes and said with confidence, "Because you're my best friend, of course! I know I can tell you anything and you'll always be there for me and understand. You are the best friend a person could ever have, Yu." With that, she hugged him warmly as they floated off down the canal.


	29. Chapter 28

After a brief meeting with Allen, Silverton was called up for her first mission with Kanda to investigate some mysterious disappearances of men in Rouen, France. They were instructed to locate Miranda Lotto, who was left vulnerable when Lavi, too, had gone missing. Silverton admitted to Kanda that she found Lavi attractive as they set out for the mission.

****Midnight- Rouen, France****

"It's just a quick trip to the bakers. I'll be fine, honey." A man said as he kissed his wife's cheek and walked out of his home.

"Please, don't go! I'm begging you! I can't lose you like I lost Samuel!" his wife called back, grabbing his arm. "Please, Al…What if you go missing too..?"

The man pulled his wife into a tight loving embrace and whispered into her hair, "I'll be fine, Janet. I promise…I will find Sammy someday. I won't let anything happen to our little boy."

A pair of eyes gleamed down on the married couple from the window of a nearby building. They watched as the man continued to walk away from his house. His wife stayed in the doorway watching him leave with a worried expression. The glass window the eyes watched through was fogged up with hot breath. A hand reached forward and wrote in the fog two chilling words: "You're Next."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Is that the place?" Silverton asked Kanda as they reached the top of a grassy hill. Just ahead of them was the town they'd been looking for, Rouen.

"That's it. Let's get going." Kanda answered her.

They entered the town with caution, immediately noticing the different texture in the air around them. It was midday and everyone was safely locked within their homes. Occasionally, someone would peek out at them from behind curtains, but quickly withdraw. It was as if the townspeople were living in a constant state of fear.

Silverton, having never been on a mission before, looked to Kanda for instruction.

Kanda noticed this and rolled his eyes, but took initiative anyway. He motioned for the brown haired girl to follow his lead as he approached one of the houses. Voices could be heard from the other side of the door, but no one would answer. Irritated, he moved on to knock on the neighbors doors. Still, everyone refused to even acknowledge his presence at their doorstep.

"I don't think they wanna talk," Silverton stated as Kanda clenched his fist, "Maybe if I gave it a try..?"

"Do what you want," Kanda hissed, "I'll check houses on the right, you check the left."

As Kanda began walking away, he felt Silverton's hand tug his arm back. "We shouldn't split up. It's men that are going missing, remember? You could easily go missing too."

The samurai rolled his eyes. "I think I can handle myself," he yanked his arm free. "Now go check houses on the left, like I said!"

"Liiiiiiiiiiiz!" A frantic, crying, cracking voice hollered from down the street.

Silverton and Kanda jumped and turned around, only to see none other than Miranda Lotto running at them from down the street. When Miranda was close enough, she leapt into the air with her arms extended towards Silverton, who collapsed upon impact.

Silverton pried Miranda's arms off and said, "Nice to see you too, Amanda."

Miranda took Kanda and Silverton to a house on the edge of town. The house's austere appearance reminded Silverton of Kanda, whose expression was just as stern as ever.

They knocked on the door, only for it to be answered by a pretty girl with blond hair and a green and white lacy dress. "Oh, Miranda, you're back…" The lady looked behind Miranda at Kanda and Silverton. "I see…You've brought friends. Come in, please." She stepped aside and allowed their entrance.

Once inside the stoic house, the three exorcists took their seats in the neatly organized living room. "Could I offer you all some refreshments?" The blond girl asked, her green eyes glistening.

They all nodded their heads in response. When the girl went into the other room, Miranda explained, "That's Emeillia. When Lavi and I first got here, she was the only person who answered us at the door."

"Why wouldn't the other townspeople answer us?" Silverton asked, propping her feet up on the coffee table.

Miranda twiddled her fingers. "Well, probably because of him," She pointed a shaky finger at Kanda, "According to Emeillia, since men in the town have been going missing, no one will answer the door to a man wandering the streets. Supposedly, they're afraid that whatever is out there is following him, and if they open the door for him, whatever men are inside their house already will also go missing."

Kanda scoffed, "Then why is Emeillia alright with letting us in?"

"I live alone." Emeillia's soft voice interrupted as she reentered the room carrying drinks and a plate of snacks. "I have no reason to fear the loss of a loved one." She glared at Silverton as she set the snacks and drinks on the coffee table.

Kanda jabbed his elbow in Silverton's arm and signaled toward her feet with his head.

She rolled her eyes and removed her feet from the coffee table. "Emeillia, aren't you kind of young to live alone?"

Emeillia sat down and fixed her green dress. "I'm twenty-seven. I can handle myself. What about you? You look twelve."

"Pardon me?"

"Perhaps I've underestimated your age."

"Yeah," Silverton snarled, "I'm sixteen."

"A little…underdeveloped, aren't you?" Emeillia smirked innocently in a mocking manner.

Silverton stood up from her seat. "Yo, if you've got a problem with me, I'm all ears." She held her stance dominantly.

Emeillia backed down and took deep breaths. "Sorry, you reminded me of someone else…They always look down on me like I'm a child and I can't stand it."

Kanda placed his hand firmly on Silverton's shoulder and shook his head at her.

Silverton sighed and sat back down beside Kanda. "Whatever. Forget it."

There was a long awkward silence lingering throughout the room. Miranda nervously tried to break it up. She reached for the snack plate and ate a small cracker. "This is delicious, Emeillia! Thank you so much! Liz, you should try one."

"Name."

"What?"

"It's Lys, not Liz. Remember?" Silverton tapped her foot at her friend.

"Oh, sorry." Miranda realized her mistake.

Silverton reached for a cracker at the same time as Emeillia. Their hands touched together for a brief moment; just long enough for Silverton to notice a sparkling item on Emeillia's hand. "Nice ring. Where'd you get it?" She asked.

Emeillia gasped and immediately withdrew her hand. She gazed down at the sparkling ring on her finger with half-lidded eyes. "Oh, this is my engagement ring. It was given to me a few weeks ago by my boyfr- I mean, fiancé, Matthew."

Kanda chimed in, "I thought you had no reason to worry about losing male loved ones."

"That's right…" Emeillia's voice got softer, "Matthew has gone missing as well."


	30. Chapter 29

When Kanda and Silverton arrived in Rouen, they tried to knock on the doors of people's homes, but found no one would answer. They quickly found Miranda, who led them to a house owned by a young blond girl named Emeillia. At first, Silverton and Emeillia mocked one another, but it was short lived. Then, Silverton noticed a ring on Emeillia's hand. Emeillia explained that it was an engagement ring from her fiancé, Matthew, who had gone missing as well.

"What are you doing?"

"We're meditating."

"Why?"

"Does it really matter?"

"Well, I guess not…" Miranda looked at Silverton and Kanda questioningly as they sat cross legged on the floor beside one another. She'd never seen people meditating, and found it quite odd. "What's the point though..?"

Silverton sighed and stated, "My master taught me to meditate on a daily basis in order to regulate my spiritual energy."

"Why would General Tiedoll ask you to do something like that?" Miranda asked.

Silverton hissed, "That man is not my master. My master's name is Tsamo Esagel."

"Would you both shut up?! I'm trying to concentrate." Kanda interrupted.

"YOU shut up, jerk!" Silverton pouted, fake punching his arm.

"You first, baka Tsubaki!" he hissed in response as he slapped her hand away.

"Don't you start giving me orders, you son of a-!"

Outside the open door, Emeillia watched Silverton lunge at her dark haired friend. Miranda had just escaped the room, as to not get caught in the middle. The two women watched as Kanda and Silverton spat out curses and wrestled one another whilst tugging on the other's hair.

Miranda laughed nervously and shut the door. "Those two sure have an odd relationship, don't they?" she said to Emeillia.

Emeillia jumped a little. "Relationship..? You mean they're..?"

"Oh, no! They're just friends. I meant they have odd methods of getting along."

"I see." Emeillia opened a closet door and pulled out some blankets. "I guess those two need a place to sleep for the night. Am I right?"

Miranda nodded her head. "They can share a room with me. I wouldn't mind."

"They don't have much of a choice," Emeillia laughed, "My house only has one spare room."

Eventually, Kanda and Silverton came to a truce and stopped their wrestling. Kanda was still irritated, but Silverton was fine, since she took their 'fight' as more of a game. It was nighttime and the two of them had just entered the room Miranda told them to sleep in. There were only two beds, and Miranda had one already taken.

There was just the briefest moment when they realized this. Kanda and Silverton barely glanced at each other from the corners of their eyes before suddenly dropping everything and racing to the bed. They tripped over each other's feet repeatedly and stumbled their ways across the room, all the while pushing and shoving.

A loud crash resounded in the room, causing Miranda to cover her eyes. When she opened them, she saw her brown haired friend pushing Kanda back with her feet as her outstretched hand barely touched the empty mattress.

Kanda shoved her feet away and scoffed, "Ugh, whatever. I'll just sleep on the floor. Again."

Silverton chuckled dominantly and propped herself up on the bed. She stuck her tongue out at him teasingly.

Kanda growled and threw a blanket in her face. "Go to sleep, idiot. We have work to do in the morning." He said as he made himself comfortable on the floor inbetween the two beds.

"Real quick, before you're both asleep," Silverton began, "I just wanted to warn you two about my…the way I sleep. I'm no beauty when I'm out of it. Oh, and I'm noisy. I get it from my dad."

"Fucking. Sleep." Kanda demanded as he closed his eyes.

"Suit yourself. G'night."

Turns out, Silverton meant what she said. It didn't take her long to crash. Her arms and legs were sprawled out wildly across the bed. Some of her limbs hung off the edges sloppily as she snored like some kind of wild boar. Poor Miranda and Kanda were forced to deal with her all night.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Good morning!" Emeillia waltzed into the room wearing pink oven mitts. "I made you all some breakfast! I hope you li-" Emeillia stopped talking the moment she saw…

Last night, Silverton's snoring kept Kanda awake for hours. When he finally fell asleep, he was so out of it, nothing could wake him up – not even when Silverton had fallen out of bed on top of him did he wake up. Nor did she, for Silverton seemed relatively comfortable on the floor.

Emeillia stared at them for a long moment, trying to process this. She glanced at Miranda, who'd just woken up and seen the two laying together asleep.

Miranda started to laugh silently, for she was aware that this was only because Silverton had fallen out of bed. Miranda climbed out of bed, careful not to disturb them. She led Emeillia out of the room smiling and went into the kitchen with her. "Those two are so cute, aren't they?"

"I…I wasn't expecting them to sleep together last night. Maybe I should be more observant next time." Emeillia said quietly as she made Miranda a plate of the food she'd prepared.


	31. Chapter 30

The morning sun beamed in from the window. Kanda could see it through his closed eyelids as he began waking up from his slumber. He took a deep breath and stretched, eyes still closed. He was still dead tired and decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to get just a little more sleep. He wrapped his arms around his pillow snugly. It was more firm than he remembered. He unconsciously buried his face in his pillow. It smelled different than he'd remembered…It smelled like some sort of flower. He began drifting off to sleep again, inhaling the peaceful aroma. His pillow snuggled closely into his chest…

Kanda's eyes shot open. He shook at the realization that his 'pillow' was none other than his brown haired friend, Silverton. It took a moment to process. He glanced up at the bed she was previously sleeping in, only to find the blankets draped over, hanging off the side of the bed. He looked back at her sleeping form and finally reacted. "THE FUCK?!" He shoved her off of him and growled furiously.

Not expecting the sudden impact of her back being slammed against the bed behind her, Silverton instantly awoke. As she rubbed her eyes tiredly, she asked, "Yu..? The hell was that for..?" She examined her surroundings. "Hm. How'd I get on the floor?"

"That's what I want to know, dumbass!" hissed the samurai. *"_This bitch is so irritating! Why does she cling to me?!_"*

Silverton stood up off the ground and stretched her limbs. "Whatever, I got a good night's sleep."

"Thanks to you, I didn't!"

"You were warned!" She laughed.

After the two of them got dressed, they went into the kitchen, following the smell of biscuits. They ate the food that was prepared for them in silence. Afterwards, the three exorcists headed out into town.

"Where to first?" Silverton questioned. By now, the townspeople were out and about; nothing but women and children.

"I suggest we talk to who we can while we can." Kanda answered her. He walked up to a food cart and tried to get the merchants attention. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have any missing male relatives, would you?"

The woman at the stand noticed the man speaking to her and gasped. "W-What do you want..?!"

"Calm down. I'm here to help you." He said, hoping to hell she wouldn't scream.

But it was no use. The woman screamed, getting the attention of everyone nearby. "Please, go away!" she hollered, "Get out!"

A large hand gripped onto Kanda's shoulder and spun him around. "Is there a problem here?" It was a man.

The woman at the stand shrieked when she saw the man. "John, what are you doing?! Get back inside! HURRY!"

"I'll be fine, Janet. Haven't you noticed? Men only go missing at night." He said.

"At night?" Silverton's voice came from behind him. "Excuse me, would you mind if we asked you a few questions? He's with me," she pointed to Kanda, "We're here to find out more about the disappearances in town lately."

The man agreed and walked the three exorcists into a nearby restaurant and sat at one of the empty tables. "Alright, we're safer here. Now, how may I help you, I'll do whatever I can."

Although Silverton was more comfortable being a follower, for now, she decided it would be a nice change of pace to be the leader. "Outside, you said men only go missing at night. What makes you think that? Do you have any evidence to prove it's true?"

John answered, "Every man who's ever gone missing has always gone missing at night. Don't know how else to say it…"

"So then why do all males still stay indoors, even during the day?" Silverton continued.

"Well," John sighed, "Most women are like my sister, Janet. They've lost their husbands, boyfriends, brothers, fathers, sons; they just don't want to risk it."

"You're saying Janet lost someone too?" Miranda asked curiously, wanting to make herself useful.

"Oh, yeah. Her husband, Al, went missing two nights ago. Al was actually a close friend of mine."

Silverton questioned further, "Before Al went missing, did you notice anything…different about him at all; maybe he was acting strangely?"

John shook his head. "Nothing at all. Last time I saw him was the day he disappeared. He'd shown up late to my shop to pick up some bread; I own the bakery a few blocks away. All he did was pick up his order and leave. It was like any other time…" John covered his face with his palms. "If only I'd known…Damn it, I'm an idiot. I just let him walk back out there in the dark…and now he's…poor Janet…"

Silverton tried to console him, "It's okay, calm down-"

"No, no, no. You don't understand," John slammed his hands on the table, "She lost Sammy too. Her son! He was only eleven, for gosh sakes…I should've seen it coming!"

John's sudden aggression was making both Miranda and Silverton nervous. Kanda was getting more and more pissed off.

"I need you to calm down, John. Right now, you and Janet are our only leads. We need your cooperation. I know this is hard-"

Silverton was cut off by John's large hands gripping her shoulders and shaking her. "You just don't understand! This is my family we're talking about!"

Kanda gripped onto the upset man's arm harshly. "Calm your ass down!" His narrow eyes pierced down into John's. "LET. HER. GO!"

John snapped back to his senses and slowly released his hands from Silverton's shoulders. "…Forgive me…I just…I'm sorry, I should go…" John quickly stood up and left the restaurant hastily.

"Are you alright, Lys?" Miranda asked as she glanced at her friend. "…Lys..?"

Silverton wouldn't respond. She sat there, staring blankly at the seat across the table from her, where John was previously sitting. Her eyes were wide open and her breathing was shallow.

Silverton completely forgot where she was. She imagined herself in her house; what it used to be. She recalled some of her last memories of the building. She heard crying. At first it was quiet and distant, but it gradually grew louder and louder. The crying got so loud, it sounded as if it was inside her head, rattling her brain. She thought back to what John had yelled in her face. *"_This is my family were talking about! If only I'd known! I should've seen it coming!_"*

"…sa! ….…yssa! …..ome on! Alyssa!"

Kanda's voice threw her back into reality. She was still in the restaurant. She was still sitting inbetween Kanda and Miranda. Her feet were in her seat and her knees were pressing into her chest. Her hands were covering her ears.

"W-What's wrong..? Can you hear me..?" Miranda whispered nervously, concerned for her friend's mental state.

Silverton turned her head and looked at her, then Kanda. They both gave her worried expressions, but Kanda looked more confused than anything.

"I-I'm fine…" Silverton shook her head quickly. "I'm fine, guys. Chill out." She relaxed her shoulders and smiled at Miranda. "Trust me. Let's get out of here."

As they walked out of the restaurant, Kanda yanked on Silverton's arm, pulling her back and letting Miranda walk ahead. "Hey," he whispered to her, "What was actually wrong back there?"

"Look, I'll tell you some other time…maybe." She whispered before catching up to Miranda and getting her attention. "You guys, from what John said, I don't think we're going to have much luck with finding the cause of the disappearances during the day."

Accepting that she'd changed the subject, Kanda added, "I agree. If we're going to find anything…" he paused, "we need to search at night."


	32. Chapter 31

The three exorcists walked through the town of Rouen for what felt like forever. They had trouble finding people to talk to, especially with Kanda around. Miranda and Silverton made sure to keep their eyes on him at all times, just in case he somehow disappeared. At lunch time, all three of them went back to the restaurant John had taken them to, but this time, they actually ordered food.

Kanda scowled when his food was brought to him. He certainly wasn't accustomed to French cuisine, and it showed. He fumbled with his fork and tried his best.

Silverton couldn't help but laugh, resulting in the samurai glaring at her. "It's funny how you're struggling to use a fork, but you're a master with chopsticks."

"Shut up, baka Tsubaki!"

Miranda stood up from the table. "Excuse me; I'm going to find the nearest restroom."

When Miranda was in the restroom, she couldn't help but be a bit creeped out. She didn't know why. It was clean and tidy and it even had a pleasant fragrance. What was so creepy? She didn't realize what it was that creeped her out until the washed her hands in the sink. When the sparkling water hit her hands, she could've sworn there was some sort of green spark. It didn't hurt her, but it made her stomach turn for some reason.

Someone new walked into the restroom. "Miranda? What are you doing here?"

The voice made her jump at first, but Miranda calmed herself when she saw their face. "Emeillia? What are you doing here?"

They both giggled softly. "I was expecting you three to be wandering the town, not taking a break." Emeillia answered, "The others are here too, aren't they?"

"Uh, yeah," Miranda peeked out of the restroom door and into the fairly empty restaurant. "They're over there," she pointed to the table where Kanda and Silverton sat.

Silverton was laughing and trying to get Kanda to try one of his side dishes. The brunette had stabbed something on Kanda's plate with her fork and held it to his mouth. Kanda would snarl and spout something at her, only for Silverton to laugh her goofy laugh yet again.

Miranda smiled and said to Emeillia, "They look like they're on a date, don't they? I really do think they would make a nice couple. I doubt they even realize it."

"I suppose so. Excuse me, I only came in here to use the facilities…" Emeillia walked over to use the toilet.

Miranda awkwardly waved and walked out to join the other exorcists. When she got back to the table, she chose to mention the creepy feeling in the water from the sink.

After they finished their meals, Kanda asked to see the restaurant's manager. A few minutes later, a scruffy looking man walked out to the bar where they awaited his arrival.

The man said, "I'm the manager. Which one of you wanted to meet me?" He politely tipped his hat to the two girls.

"That'd be me," Kanda stated, stepping forward. *"_I better not be too direct…maybe I can still get answers by asking a more broad question._"* "Do you mind me asking where this building gets its water supply?"

The man looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "This town draws water from the lake to the north. Why? Did your water taste wrong?"

"Something like that. That's all I needed to know, thanks." With a quick bow, Kanda walked away, Silverton and Miranda close behind.

"So, which way is north? I assume you want to go to the lake the town gets it's water from, right?" Silverton questioned.

Kanda nodded. "That is, if Miranda's story is as accurate as she said."

"Do we even know which way north is though?! That's what I asked." Silverton looked around. "Should we ask for directions? I rather not wander around without a clue."

"Maybe we could follow those..?" Miranda suggested, pointing to an aqueduct coming from the restaurant. There were several ducts headed toward the same direction coming from surrounding houses and buildings as well.

"Nice catch there, Miranda! I bet they lead to the lake!" Silverton patted Miranda's back.

Kanda motioned for the two girls to follow him. "Let's get going. We might be able to catch something by nightfall."

As the exorcists followed the aqueducts out of the city and into the forest, they could feel the texture in the air shift dramatically. If they thought the town was creepy, it was nothing in comparison to the forest surrounding it up north. They trudged through the bushes until they reached a path of rocks and leaves. They followed the path further north, with Kanda leading the way, for some unknown number of hours.

By the time they reached the water, the sky was red with the alpenglow of the sunset. Miranda and Silverton each held onto one of Kanda's hands suddenly.

Kanda slapped them away. "The hell do you think you're doing?!" he snapped.

Silverton held his hand again. "Men go missing at night, remember? The sun is setting and we aren't letting you out of our sight."

He merely grunted and accepted defeat. *"_They're right. We don't know how the disappearances are happening, so we need to be prepared for anything._"*

Suddenly, Silverton froze stiff. She didn't look frightened though. She looked completely focused, as if she were trying to hear something far away. "Shh, everybody hush for a second…" She closed her eyes.

Miranda and Kanda looked at one another, wondering what she was trying to hear.

Silverton opened her eyes suddenly and grabbed Miranda's arm. She pulled her over to Kanda. "Miranda, don't let him out of your sight. Don't let go of his hand no matter what, understand?"

Miranda's panic was obvious. "W-Why?! What's going on?!" She asked shakily, taking his hand in hers.

Silverton winked at them. "I'll be right back."

"Hey, wait! What the hell?!" the confused samurai hollered at the brunette as she ran off. He barely saw her hair melt into silver threads as she disappeared back into the bushes. *"_She activated her innocence? But why? Akuma?"_* He decided whatever the reason was, he should still be investigating the lake, especially since he had to let Miranda haul him everywhere.

~ ~ ~ **Silverton** ~ ~ ~

"How many we got here?" Silverton jokingly questioned as she watched a swarm of akuma head towards her, poisoning the night sky. "Let's just call it 'a lot'" Her innocence already active, she extracted a blade of silver from the bones in her arm. She leapt into the air, slicing through every level 1 akuma she came across. A few level twos showed up but they were no match for the razor sharp arm blades.

~ ~ ~ **Kanda** ~ ~ ~

He slowly dipped his hand into the cold lake water, wanting to experience the green sparks that Miranda had. Unsurprisingly, his experience with the green sparks was no different.

Miranda gripped his hand tighter slightly. "So…what do you think..?"

"There could very well be innocence in the water, so we need to search for it." Kanda answered wiping his hand dry.

"What about Lys?"

"She'll be fine," Kanda looked away, "…most likely."

~ ~ ~ **Silverton** ~ ~ ~

"Damn you're a pain in my ass!" Silverton hollered at the speedy level two akuma. She tried her best to keep all the akuma out of Kanda and Miranda's way while they investigated the lake, however, the number of akuma she was facing was too much for one exorcist alone to handle. She found herself stumbling and struggling to hold all of them back.

The akuma swung a spiked mallet at the girl while she was trying to catch her balance. "Die, exorcist!" it yelled as its weapon crashed into Silverton. In one quick rush, she was sent spiraling downwards as her vision faded to black. She drifted into the depths of unconsciousness.


	33. Chapter 32

*"_Where am I?_"*

**_Stupid bitch._**

*"_What? Who's there?_"*

_**You don't deserve happiness.**_

*"_Who are you? Show yourself!_"*

**_If I can't be happy, no one can._**

**_No one…_**

**_can be…_**

**_happy…_**

*"_That voice…no, it couldn't be…_"*

The world began spiraling around. Silverton's heart plummeted and her stomach churned. Wind was rushing in her ears at rapid speeds. Suddenly, her body immediately halted, but her heart sped past her before slinking back into her chest.

Silverton opened her eyes slowly, watching all the trees around her spin. She dizzily rubbed her eyes. *"_The hell happened?_"* she thought as she regained consciousness. She'd suddenly remembered being hit in the head by an akuma. That was all. She was now lying in the bushes somewhere in the creepy, dense forest. She took a moment and closed her eyes to focus. *"_There are still some akuma nearby. Fuck, I bet they're by Miranda and Yu…_"*

~ ~ ~ **Kanda** ~ ~ ~

There was a high whistling sound that sliced through the air, snapping Kanda to his senses. "GET DOWN!" he trampled over Miranda, pushing her just barely out of the way of a purple missile.

Miranda sat up, dazed and confused, and looked at the missile that lodged itself into the ground where they were previously standing. "I-Is that a..?"

"Yeah," the samurai replied, "that missile came from an akuma."

The two of them watched as swarms of akuma began rising up over the trees. Kanda unsheathed Mugen and tried to stand ready for attack, but was held back by Miranda's hand in his. However, there was a problem.

"Kanda…you're…h-hurting me..!" Miranda stuttered in pain. She tried to pull her hand from his, but was unable to. "Please, stop…squeezing my hand..!"

"I-I'm not!" Kanda used all his strength to release her hand, but his muscles wouldn't respond to him. "Come on!" He ran with Miranda into the trees to avoid akuma, all the while trying to pry his grip from her hand that was turning white and purple. It was as if his hand had a mind of its own.

~ ~ ~ **Silverton** ~ ~ ~

She ran blindly through the forest, desperately trying to find the lake. "GOD DAMN IT! WHICH WAY IS FUCKING NORTH?!"

In all her irritation and rage, she found herself tripping on a stone and tumbling down a hill. When she finally caught her grip on the ground, she saw a green spark. "What the..?" her hands were buried in marshy soil. Water seeped between her fingers and sparked green again. She decided it would be best if she followed it uphill, since the water was trickling downwards.

She followed the water until she found a narrow cave. The sparking water was leaking out from the cavern. The question was: where was it coming from?

~ ~ ~ **Kanda** ~ ~ ~

"Die, die, die, die, DIE!" An akuma chanted as it chased Kanda and Miranda through the forest.

Kanda used Mugen with one hand to the best of his ability using only his right hand, since his left hand refused to respond to his commands as it squeezed Miranda's on its own.

"Why won't you let go?!" Miranda's pleas were getting more aggressive with the more pain she felt.

"I told you! It's not me! I'm not doing it!" Kanda shouted.

There was a crack and a scream. Kanda's heart dropped as he realized what happened. Miranda was the one screaming. Her hand was the one that cracked. Kanda crushed Miranda's hand until it broke.

At the same time, Kanda suddenly had control over his hand again as he quickly let her free from his grip. His knuckles regained their color slowly. He stared at his own hand, then down at Miranda. She had collapsed to her knees, holding onto her crippled hand, crying tears of pain.

After looking around for the akuma that had been chasing them, Kanda took the time to kneel down beside her and comfort her. "Shh, you'll be fine. I promise. I know it hurts, but I need you to be quiet."

~ ~ ~ **Silverton** ~ ~ ~

She stepped into the cold cave. Her footsteps echoed off the cave walls with every step she took through the shallow water. It was dark and damp, and the eerie atmosphere made Silverton's skin crawl. But if that wasn't enough to get her heart pounding, she wasn't at all prepared for what she was about to walk into.

A scream erupted from within the cave. It was a blood curling scream that ricocheted off the hollow walls and caused Silverton practically jump out of her own skin. She'd assumed the worst, due to her phasmophobia, and she contemplated running away right then and there. However, something told her she had to keep going. Had to. If she turned back now, she'd be proving Nova correct in calling her pathetic. That wasn't about to happen.

She pushed on down the hollow cavern, taking deep breaths as she did so. It wasn't long before she heard more voices. This time, they weren't screaming; They were whispering;

"She's here…"

Silverton let her nerves get the best of her and screamed. Although, it was more of a cry than a scream. However, she was unable to form words.

The voices started again.

"Is that her?"

"What if it's not?"

"Could it be…someone's here to save us?"

"HELP!"

"HELP US, PLEASE!"

"We're in here!"

"Oh god…please let it not be her…"

Silverton stopped her whining abruptly. *"_Are they…people..?_"* She swallowed the lump in her throat. "H-Hello? Is…anyone in here?"

"It's not her!"

"We're saved!"

"Please, hurry!"

Silverton darted further into the cave until she saw an orange light. When she reached the end, what she saw she couldn't believe.

~ ~ ~ **Kanda** ~ ~ ~

"Don't move your hand, it'll only hurt more." Kanda put Miranda in a safe spot within the trees before coming to a realization. "Miranda, are you able to turn back time on your own hand, or does it only work for things other than yourself?"

Miranda shook her head with tears in her eyes. "I can't…"she sobbed, careful to keep her hand still.

"You'll be alright. Stay calm. Your hand will be fixed up when we return to HQ." Kanda did his best to console the upset woman. *"_This is the first time she's really been injured as an exorcist…and it's my fault. No wait…that wasn't me! I couldn't move my own hand. Either way, I can't afford to be sentimental right now. That akuma could be anywhere…_"*

A chilling, rumbling voice emanated through the trees. It practically engulfed the exorcists as it uttered a single sentence, "..._I'm right…behind you…_"


	34. Chapter 33

"Please help!"

"In here, hurry!"

"Help us!"

Silverton ran through the narrow cavern, following the echoing voices. There was an orange glow at the end of the cave where the voices were coming from. It got brighter and hotter as she approached it. When she finally reached the source, what she saw she couldn't believe…

"We're saved!"

"Thank God..!"

Silverton was in a cave room, lit up with torches. The air was hot and damp. All she saw around her scattered about and strung up with chains…were men; the men who'd gone missing in Rouen, France.

The men pleaded for help and rattled their chains, desperately trying to get her attention. Their voices all meshed together in all their pleas. It took Silverton a moment to act. She ran to the closest man and began fumbling with the locked cuffs on his wrists.

The other men cried out, "Don't help him! This all is his fault!"

"It's not my fault! You all would have done the same thing!" The man Silverton was helping hollered.

Silverton paused, "What are they talking about? Who are you?"

"My name's Matt…"

"Matt? As in Matthew? As in Emeillia's fiancé? That Matthew?" Silverton stuttered out.

Matt shivered. "God, no! I dumped that crazy bitch a month ago…"

"Hurry and free us, before she gets back!" another one called out.

Silverton raised an eyebrow. "Emeillia? Hat does she have to do with this?"

They all seemed to answer her all at once.

"She's evil!"

"A witch! She's a witch!"

"She's insane!"

"She's gonna kill us all!"

Silverton remembered earlier when the akuma had knocked her unconscious. As she was falling to the ground, she'd heard a voice in her head. She recalled the exact words…

_Stupid bitch. You don't deserve happiness. If I can't be happy, no one can._

_No one…_

_Can be…_

_Happy…_

~ ~ ~ **Kanda** ~ ~ ~

"I'm right…behind you…"

There was a loud crash before everything went black. Kanda heard his own heart beating particularly loudly in his chest. His ears were ringing and he briefly lost sight of where he was. Who he was. So when he heard Miranda's frantic voice calling out to him, he barely recognized his own name.

"Kanda! Kanda, please wake up!"

He slowly opened his eyes. Miranda was lugging him over her back, pulling him out from the bushes. They were back by the lake and Miranda expanded her Time Record around both their bodies, healing his wounds and shielding them from the attacking akuma. "I'm awake. Thanks for the help, Miranda." He stood up as she released her grip on him. He prepared to attack an akuma that was outside the Time Record trying to shoot them. Kanda slid Mugen from its sheath swiftly and took his stance.

Just as he was about to lunge at the akuma, he was halted my Miranda as she yanked his ponytail back. "Hold on!" she cried.

Kanda winced and snarled menacingly in her direction. "What the hell is your problem?! Let go!" he yanked his black hair from her grip.

Miranda didn't answer him with her words, but rather, her actions. She shakily pointed her finger outward, right to the center of the lake.

Both exorcists saw the same thing. A human figure positioned at the center of the lake, effortlessly standing atop the water's surface. Although it was mostly a simple, eerie silhouette, a few details could be read from the moonlight glowing off the water's surface, just at the figures feet: A flowing green dress. Curly blond hair.

Emeillia.

~ ~ ~** Silverton **~ ~ ~

There was no time for questions; Silverton knew that. She moved as fast as she could, using her innocence to slash through the men's chains. The ruckus was insane; all the begging and pleading from the men who've yet to be set free, the rattling chains, the clank and clutter. As their chains were removed, the men fled from the cave as quickly as possible, with no concern for those left behind.

"Silverton? Over here!"

The sound of her name caught her off guard. She recognized that voice for sure. "Bookman Jr.?" She looked over the men's heads until she set her sights on fiery red hair.

As she made her way past the other men and towards the exorcist, he sighed and said, "I thought I'd be stuck down here forever…You're a life saver."

She carefully sliced through the locks of his confinements. *"_What should I say to him? I don't know him like I know Yu...Maybe I should...What if I just...Oh, fuck it..."_* She chose not to say anything at all.

Once free, unlike the others who fled, Lavi stayed behind. He rubbed his sore wrists. "Alright, I'll do my best to help you free everyone. We have to get these people out of here. You with me?"

"Shut up."

~ ~ ~ **Kanda** ~ ~ ~

Kanda and Miranda stared over at Emeillia, who stood still over the rippling water.

"Emeillia?" Miranda began to wonder if her eyes were deceiving her.

"You shouldn't get distracted!" The akuma surrounded Miranda's Time Record and all attacked at once. Miranda suddenly cried out as the protective barrier shattered.

Just as the akuma broke through, before they could do any harm, something else whipped by: Water. Streams of water whipped the akuma in two, one by one. When all the akuma were destroyed, the water silently trickled back into the lake.

"What the hell?" Kanda wiped the water droplets from his face. He quickly looked out over the lake again, just barely in time to watch Emeillia suddenly sink straight down under the water like a pencil. Her ghostly presence gave him chills. He had no idea what was going on, but he was more than determined to find out.

~ ~ ~** Silverton **~ ~ ~

"This way, everyone! Out! Hurry, don't slow down!" Lavi hollered as he guided the men out from the cave as if directing traffic. "Hurry, before, she comes back!"

Silverton continued chopping apart shackles. *"_Before she comes back? If she were to come here, she'd enter the same way everyone is exiting, wouldn't she?"_*

There was a low rumbling surrounding the cave and shaking the walls. A few rocks began falling from the ceiling. Silverton struggled to stand due to the massive quake and found herself toppling over. She managed to catch her landing with her hands, only for them to be submerged in green sparking water. She instantly noticed that the water that was, at one point, less than ankle-deep was now a foot deep. *"_Where is this coming from?"_*

"You okay?" Lavi yelled over the rumbling. He ran to her side and helped her up. He quickly scanned the cave with his eyes. "Hey, I think everyone made it out! Let's get going!" They began running out from the cave, careful to cover their heads to shield them from falling rocks. "Hey, have you found Miranda?" Lavi asked her, just as they reached the exit.

"Yes. She's by the lake with Y-...Kanda." Silverton caught herself before letting her friend's first name slip out.

"Yu's here? Well then, she should be fine. Let's go find them." Lavi extended his hammer up high above the trees. "Grab on!"

She thought, *_"I wonder who else knows Yu's name..."_* Just as Silverton was about to grab onto the handle of Lavi's extending hammer, something stopped her. She quickly turned back and darted into the dark cavern, following the voice that pierced through the rumbling.

"Don't go..! Please! Momma..!"


	35. Chapter 34

Kanda slashed through akuma after akuma with his deadly Mugen. *_"I was sure there weren't anymore akuma...These bastards just keep coming up from behind the trees!"_* Kanda quickly dodged some bullets coming from who-knows-where before stabbing and slashing again. He kept his eyes on Miranda, who did her best to shield herself behind her damaged Time Record whilst fighting off the pain in her hand. Every time Kanda heard a rustle from behind the trees, he'd quickly swing Mugen in it's direction without pause for thought.

"WAAAHHH! Chill! It's me, Yu!" a familiar voice came from behind the trees where Kanda had just slashed.

Kanda immediately ceased his attack. "Lavi?"

The redhead peeked his head out from the brush. "Geez, Yu! Have some mercy for your comrades!" He chuckled, a little shaken up at nearly being shredded apart.

"Where the hell have YOU been?!" Kanda demanded, "And DON'T call me that, baka Usagi!"

Lavi helped fend off akuma with his hammer as he spoke, "Silverton found us in a cave somewhere at the bottom of a hill. There's a woman named Emeillia in town. She's the one causing all the disappearances!"

Kanda scowled at having not figured it out first. "Is innocence involved? How does she do it? And where is Silverton?"

Lavi ignored Kanda's first two questions. He looked back into the trees. "I-I could've sworn she was right behind me...I thought she grabbed onto my hammer when it extended!"

"Dumbass! Go back and find her!"

Suddenly, another quake shook the ground beneath their feet. This quake was massive enough to even knock the skilled Samurai to his knees.

"What the hell?!" Kanda growled, trying to get balance.

Miranda crawled over to the tow struggling men. "Time Record!" Suddenly, the shaking seemed to stop and they all leapt to their feet. However, they could still see that the world around them continued to violently quake. They simply couldn't feel it.

"Phew...thanks Mira- What happened?!" Lavi exclaimed as he caught sight of her crippled hand.

Before she could answer, water splashed up on the shore from the lake. The three exorcists quickly directed their attention to the lake, where the water bobbed up and down unnaturally; as if there was some sort of magnetic pull lifting it and dropping it.

Kanda instantly thought back to when he saw Emeillia standing in the middle of the lake. Then he remembered how the water had protected him and Miranda from the akuma. *_"Could Emeillia somehow be causing this?"_*

~ ~ ~** Silverton **~ ~ ~

Silverton struggled and stumbled as she ran back into the cave. The quakes were gradually getting worse and worse by the minute and more and more water leaked into the cave. She frantically followed the voice...

"Help me, please!" it called.

"Where the hell are you?!" Silverton began to panic. She felt as though the air around her was rapidly condensing. The sound of the voice increased her desperation. Stones were crashing down around her. She had to find this person quick and get her ass out of there.

"I'm back here, Lady!"

The voice was very close. She darted around until her eyes met the face of a young boy, still chained to the wall. The water around him had risen especially high; up to his chest.

Silverton trudged through the water as fast as she could over to the young boy. She quickly snapped apart his shackles with her innocence.

"Thank you, miss..." the boy cried to her as he climbed into her open arms for protection.

_If I can't be happy..._

Silverton shielded the boy from falling rocks as she tried her best to lead him out from the cave. He cried out as one last thundering quake shook the earth. Silverton's heart dropped as she watched the cave's entrance collapse.

_NO ONE CAN!_

A large crack formed along the ceiling. Water rapidly spilled in around them. Finally, Silverton figured out why there was water in the cave.

~ ~ ~ **Kanda** ~ ~ ~

"We need to go find Lys!" Miranda cried out, worried about her friend's well-being.

Lavi cursed himself for having left behind the new exorcist. *"_I hope she didn't go back in that cave..."_* he thought.

There was another quake. This quake, however, felt very different from the others. The ground seemed to completely shift beneath the exorcists' feet. At the same time, the oddly bobbing lake water began calming itself.

"Lavi," Kanda began, "Is Emeillia causing these quakes?"

The redhead shrugged. "I honestly don't know. If I had to guess, I'd say so."

They heard a splash in the middle of the lake. The exorcists all turned around, expecting it to be Emeillia. However, they found something else entirely.

Popping out from under the murky water was an odd looking metal platform, standing up like a pillar. Atop the pillar was a young boy, gasping for breath.

Without a second thought, Lavi extended his hammer out over the lake to the metal pillar. He picked up the young boy in his arms and brought him back on land. "You okay, kid? Where'd you come from?"

The boy was drenched in water from head to toe. He wiped his eyes and looked around. "W-Where is she...?"

"Who? Emeillia?" Miranda questioned.

"The lady...the one with shiny hair!" the boy exclaimed. "She...saved me!"

"Shiny hair?" Kanda pondered for a moment. "Silverton? Did her hair look silver?"

The boy nodded.

Kanda and Lavi both looked back at the metal pillar in the middle of the lake; just in time to watch it retract back into the water. They both realized it: The pillar was made of silver.

~ ~ ~** Silverton **~ ~ ~

***moments ago***

Water spilled into the cave rapidly, smothering any air around her and the boy in her arms as the entire cave collapsed. Every question Silverton previously has about where the water was coming from had finally been answered...

The cave was directly beneath the lake.

Silverton's heart raced as she held onto the child. She hadn't gotten a breath on time, and she knew it was too late. All she could think about was getting the boy to safety.

_*"Erebus!"*_

Thinking fast, Silverton held the boy towards the surface, which seemed so far away. She used her innocence and sent the boy upwards by creating a pillar of silver with him on op of it. She'd only hoped the boy made it safely above the water.

***present***

Silverton lay at the bottom of the lake, struggling to move. She'd always been afraid of drowning, and she knew there would be no way of getting herself out of this one. Her bones are her innocence. Her bones are made up of innocence-induced silver. Silver is more dense than water. Therefore, Silverton sinks when in water. She physically couldn't swim her way to safety.

She felt her life utterly slipping away. She began counting down the seconds she had left as she stared up at the surface.

_1..._

_2..._

_3..._

She could faintly make out the glowing of the moon through the ripples. It looked so calm up there; so peaceful and inviting as it glowed alone in the night sky.

_7..._

_8..._

_9..._

She could hear her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.

_"What's your problem?"_ a voice rang loud and clear through the water. _"This is what you deserve. He's mine. If I can't be happy, no one can."_

_*"Emeillia..?"*_

Silverton began crying. Her tears mixed in with the water around her. She choked on what little air she had left in her lungs before finally letting it out. _*"I'm dying..."*_

_44..._

_45..._

_46..._

She felt liquid spilling into her lungs. _*"I'm dying..."*_

_51..._

_52..._

The corners of her vision slowly began fading to black. Just before she blacked out, she noticed a dark silhouette above her, seemingly growing closer and closer as it engulfed the moonlight behind it.

She opened her mouth and used the last of her breath to whisper the silhouette's name...

"Yu...Kan...da..."


	36. Chapter 35

"Wait, Yu!" Lavi called out as he watched the samurai remove his coat quickly before diving into the lake. _*"I hope he knows what he's doing..."*_ He recalled the words Kanda had said just before jumping in:

"Damn it! That bitch was my responsibility!"

Lavi assumed 'that bitch' was supposed to mean 'Silverton'. He was slightly irritated at Kanda's choice of words, since he himself had been worried.

It felt like forever. All Lavi and Miranda could do was wait with the boy and pray they would be alright. Time seemed to have completely stopped, it took so long.

Finally, after practically the longest two minutes of their lives, Lavi and Miranda watched as Kanda emerged from the water with the brunette in his arms.

Kanda swam her to shore. He struggled to drag her body from the water. He laid her down on the grass and began shaking her shoulders. "Wake up!"

"Lys!" Miranda ran over to her side. "Oh, god...Please don't be..."

Lavi grabbed Silverton's wrist and checked for a pulse. "She's still alive, but not by much..."

"Damn it, open your eyes!" Kanda shook her again. He held his hand above her mouth and nose, trying to feel if she was breathing.

She wasn't.

"Fuck, you're so pathetic!" Kanda quickly tilted her chin back and closed the gap between his lips and hers.

_"Hello?" Silverton was surrounded in white. She couldn't see anything all around her. There was nothing but white emptiness._

_Silverton was scared. She was confused. Wherever she was, she wanted out. She started to run through the white emptiness, not sure where she was going._

_"You're wasting your time."_

_Silverton skid to a halt at the sound of the voice as it rang throughout the blank space._

_"Never thought I'd see you in here."_

_Silverton turned around, as the voice was right behind her. She was shocked to see the figure speaking to her. "...Nova...?"_

_"Who do I look like?" Nova rolled her eyes. She lifted her arms and looked around. "How do you like it here?" she asked sarcastically. "Welcome to your subconscious. Your empty, EMPTY subconscious." _

_"But, how? How am I here? And more importantly, how are you here?" Silverton choked on the lump in her throat. She thought back to her last image of Nova..._

_"Ugh, not that one again..." Nova whined, pointing behind Silverton._

_Silverton turned again, only to be met with a large wall that wasn't there before. On the wall was a projection of a memory. In the memory, Nova was covered in blood, lying on the floor with pentacles on her skin._

_Silverton covered her eyes and slumped to her knees. The image was so vivid; exactly as she saw it on that day three years ago._

_"It sucks, huh? I've been stuck in here inside your head ever since I died." She glared at her younger sister. "I've been forced to re-watch your life over and over in here. Che, talk about hell..."_

_Silverton slowly uncovered her eyes. The wall and projection were gone. "Alright, then why am I here...?"_

_"You don't remember? Damn, you're pathetic..."_

_Another memory appeared on the floor beneath them. The memory gave an image from underwater, with the moon glowing and causing a plethora of reflections down through the ripples of darkness._

_Nova smirked. "How about now? Remember?"_

_Silverton gasped as she suddenly did remember. She was in the cave as it collapsed. The cave was under the lake. She was trapped at the bottom of the water. She was drowning. She was dying. Her life was over. "Are you saying...Did I...die..?"_

_"Can't tell." Nova stated blankly. "That's your most recent memory. You could be dead, but I always imagined being set free after you died. Ew, I don't want to spend an eternity in here with YOU!"_

_Silverton felt something touch her hair. She reached atop her head and held something soft and fragile within her fingertips. She looked at it with curious eyes._

_A flower petal._

_She looked above her head only to see hundreds of pink petals drifting down from the white empty space above her._

_"What the?!" Nova ran over and stared at the petals in awe. "I've never seen this happen before!"_

_More and more petals fell, eventually becoming while flowers. Lotus blossoms._

_Nova scowled. "Well, shit. I guess you made it. Whatever. I'll just have to get back at you next time I take the reigns over your body."_

_Silverton found herself being engulfed in lotus blossoms. They softly spiraled around her, sending her into a state of hypnosis. She allowed herself to be overcome by the beautiful blossoms. She closed her eyes and watched the white world go black._

Pressure. Silverton felt pressure; and in the oddest of places: her lips. It wasn't painful or uncomfortable, just odd. She felt like her entire body was drenched in water. She was so cold.

She heard a voice; several, actually. There was a woman crying - definitely Miranda; A voice saying, 'Please wake up, Lady..!'- The young boy. The voice closest to her was that of Kanda, saying, 'Open your eyes, baka Tsubaki!' Then the pressure on her lips would return.

Silverton peeled open her eyelids. Above her was Kanda as he pulled his lips from hers. His long dark hair was soaked and dripping with water; same with his white collared dress shirt. Behind him was the night sky, lit up by the glowing moon.

Realizing her situation, Silverton tried to breathe, only to begin coughing up profuse amounts of water. Pain racked through her chest as the liquid poisoned her lungs.

After coughing up as much water as she could, Silverton looked at the Japanese man kneeling beside her. Without a second thought, she lunged at him; wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

Kanda was a bit taken back. He wasn't sure what to do, but he knew what she needed. He cautiously wrapped his arms around her in return.

T-Thank you..." he heard her choke out between a mixture of shivers and sobs. "You-...s-saved me..."

Kanda slowly tried prying her off, but her arms were secured in place. "Baka Tsubaki...almost dying on your first mission."

The brunette finally released him and wiped her eyes with her already wet arm. "I guess that is pretty pathetic, eh?" She smiled, more glad to be alive than she'd ever been.


	37. Chapter 36

"So, what's your name, kid?"

"I'm Sam. What's your name?"

"Uh, Silverton."

"Can I call you, 'Miss Silver'?"

"Eh, no. Yea, just…no. Silverton."

Lavi smiled as he watched the new exorcist converse with the young boy she'd saved. He, Kanda, and Miranda were walking just a few meters behind them. "Hey, Silverton, you sure you're not cold?"

The brunette made sure not to face him as she hid her blushing. _*"He's actually worried about me! How sweet…~"*_

Lavi nudged Kanda with his elbow. "Yu, you should let her borrow your coat." He whispered.

"Tsk, it's her own damn fault she's cold. Let her deal with wearing her own wet jacket," the samurai hissed, "and DON'T call me by that name, Usagi!"

"No compassion, as usual." Lavi shook his head and smiled. He slid his own jacket off and caught up to her. "Here, you can borrow mine," he said as he gently covered her shoulders with it.

Silverton's cheeks burned brighter. _*"Oh my god, he's such a gentleman!~ Phew, calm down, Lys…He's just a guy…A really handsome, chivalrous, cute guy…really cute…Gah, what the hell?! I'm fangirling! Bad, Lys, bad!"*_

So, Silverton," the redhead interrupted her thoughts, "How old are you?"

She didn't answer, causing an awkward silence to fill the air.

Miranda tried to say something to calm the atmosphere, "Didn't you tell Emeillia you were sixteen?"

Lavi smiled. "You're the same age as Lenalee then. I'm eighteen. What about you, Sam?"

The boy was excited to hear his name as he answered, "I'm eleven years old in a few weeks!"

Silverton's stomach flipped. The boy's smile, his young voice…something kept triggering memories for her. _*"Erebus, you're around his age by now, aren't you?"*_

"Oh, my little boy!"

The four exorcists watched as Sam ran into the open arms of his mother, Janet. All the men had returned back to the town, reuniting with their loved ones and sharing in their tears of joy. Husbands and wives embraced one another in the middle of the streets. No one cared. Everyone in town dropped everything at once, allowing their sorrow and worry to melt away.

The exorcists knew, however, that their jobs weren't done yet.

They all ran as fast as they could to the house at the edge of town; Emeillia's house. They ran up the path before Kanda kicked in the front door. They scouted through the plain house, innocence at the ready. They checked every room one by one. The house was empty.

The exorcists met outside in the back yard after coming up with nothing.

"You don't suppose she went back to that cave, do you?" Lavi asked.

"Maybe she ran away…" Miranda rubbed the goose bumps on the arm that had the crippled hand, which had gone numb long ago.

"…No…" They all looked at Silverton as she stared off in a corner near the house. "She's over there."

They all immediately jerked their heads towards the corner. They made confused expressions as they were met with nothing.

"Uh, what are you talking about?"

"She really is there, Lavi. I can't believe I didn't notice it sooner…it's so obvious…" Silverton quickly created a blade from her arm and slashed at the gutter over the empty corner. Water spilled from the gutter and onto the ground below. "Show yourself. I know you're there."

Suddenly the water began building up in the corner. It formed like clay into a figure of a human. Then, the water transformed into a solid being; the blond woman in a frilly green dress.

Emeillia stood before them, completely surrounded. She growled at Silverton, whose hair turned back to brown again. "Stupid bitch…How did you know..?"

"As the Sage's Apprentice, I'm taught to be able to sense the life force within all living things. But, I can only do it at close proximity, unlike the Sage himself."

"Life force?" Emeillia laughed, "What life? I have no life anymore!" She looked down at the ring on her hand. "Not anymore…"

"Why do you kidnap the men in this town?" Kanda demanded, "Answer me!"

Emeillia tilted her head to the side and smiled innocently. "Kidnap? Who would do such a horrible thing? No, no…I'm just taking what's rightfully mine." She extended her hand out to Lavi and Kanda. "Isn't that right, Matthew, darling?"

They all peered behind them. No Matthew. "What are you talking about? There's no one but us here." Kanda stated, confused.

"Then you…" Emeillia snarled at the youngest of the exorcists, "You ruined EVERYTHING! I saw your lips against my darling Matthew's!"

"I think I understand." Silverton stated calmly.

"You don't understand ANYTHING!" Emeillia lifted her hand and made a fist. At the same time, all the exorcists suddenly stood with their legs together, their arms at their sides, and their backs perfectly straight.

"What the-?! What's going on?!" Kanda struggled to move his body, but was unable to; much like the others. He instantly recognized this feeling. He felt this before. "You…you can control people's bodies…?! So then you're the one who made me break Miranda's hand!"

Emeillia giggled sadistically, "Why yes, dear. She held my dear fiancé's hand. We can't have you holding hands with another woman, now can we?" The ring on her finger began glowing. "I won't let it happen again…"

Miranda started to scream. She desperately struggled to move, but was held in place; standing like a pencil. Her hand was slowly crumbling. "STOP IT, PLEASE!" she cried.

"Knock it off, Emeillia!" Silverton's hair and nails faded to silver as she activated her innocence. She growled and winced in pain as she forced herself to move.

The blond woman gasped as Silverton slowly inched forward towards her. "H-How are you doing that..?!"

"You felt betrayed when Matthew left you. You get upset when you see a man and woman together, and you're fooling yourself into thinking of them as Matthew." Silverton got closer. "I know how you feel. You're thinking that by losing him somehow is fate's way of saying you don't deserve happiness. I know how you feel. I've felt that way many times before, believe me."

"Why should I believe anything you say?!" Emeillia tightened her fist, causing Silverton to struggle more to move.

Kanda thought, _*"Why is Alyssa able to move and I can't? Is it because her innocence is spread throughout her entire body? How the hell is Emeillia controlling us?"*_ He thought back to when they were at the lake and the water whipped out and saved them from the akuma. Then, it hit him. "You…that ring is innocence that can control water…You're controlling the water in our bodies to use us like puppets!"

"Very observant…" Emeillia lifted her hand upwards, lifting the exorcists off their feet; with the exception of Silverton.

"Emeillia," Silverton stepped forward again, "Just because things didn't work out with Matthew doesn't mean it'll never work again!"

"It's no use, Silverton! I think the innocence in that engagement ring is enslaving her!" Lavi groaned as he struggled for control over his body.

Silverton smirked. "Then…I guess I'll have to break her shackles…"

Emeillia screamed as all the exorcists could suddenly move again. Blood gushed from her fresh wound.

Silverton cut off her hand.


	38. Chapter 37

"Sorry I'm late."

"Where's the scum? You did take care of it, right?"

"Things didn't go exactly to plan, I'm afraid…you see th-"

"YOU LET THEM GET AWAY?! Damn your incompetence, Tyki! You're lucky you've got your looks…otherwise I'd kill you."

"Not sure if that was a compliment or a threat, Lady Millennium…but thank you, none the less…"

Tyki had returned to the lake house after failing to capture either of the girls who'd spied on the Noahs. He had a burn mark across his face from where one of them attacked him with innocence. _*"I'm going to kill that blond bitch…"*_

"Speaking of your looks," the Millennium Countess spoke as she propped her feet up on the dinner table as Tyki took his seat, "What's with the mark on your face?"

Tyki growled, "There were actually two of them out there. They weren't ordinary humans either. They were innocence accommodators."

The Countess' eyes widened. She twitched her upper lip into a vicious snarl. "Damn exorcists…I'll crush their bloody Order…"

"Actually, I don't think they were associated with the Black Order. They didn't have on any uniforms with rose crosses and they seemed to be completely unaware of the situation." Tyki snapped his finger. "Lero, grab me a cold towel."

The pumpkin umbrella popped out from behind the Countess' chair. "Right away! Lero!" The umbrella flew away into the kitchen and returned with a damp towel, that Tyki dabbed his face off with.

"Lero, go bring the others back inside." The Countess demanded. "We've yet to discuss why the family was gathered here."

Minutes later, the umbrella returned with Road, Devit, Jasdero, and a black cat.

"Everyone, sit." The Countess signaled over to the table where she and Tyki already sat. The cat leapt into her lap and nuzzled into her chest. "I forgot to tell you, Tyki-pet~, Lulubell arrived while you were in the woods failing to follow out my orders to eliminate the scum." The woman hissed with a slightly teasing yet menacing smile.

"Haha! Nice face!" Devit mocked Tyki's burn mark, "You get your ass beat by a chick?" His younger twin brother chuckled creepily.

Tyki scowled, "Watch your damn mouth! I didn't see you putting forth an effort to catch them yourselves!"

"We shouldn't have to, but you're such a damn girly prick, so…"

Jasdero chimed, "Wimpy girly prick! Hee, hee, hee!"

"ENOUGH!" The red haired Countess slammed her gloved fist on the table. "Why can't you damn idiots shut up and focus?!"

All the Noah's hearts dropped simultaneously as they all lowered their heads and mumbled, "Sorry, my Lady…"

The Millennium Countess rubbed her temple and groaned, "Alright, Road…show them the girl."

"Yes, Ma'am!" The young girl snapped her fingers. Suddenly, the entire Noah family was in a room; one of Road's dream realms. They were all standing in a circle. Like a hologram, standing in the center was a girl with curly blond hair and a flowing green dress.

"Who's this chick?" Devit questioned as he and his brother tilted their heads in unison.

"It doesn't really matter who she is. It's WHAT she is that's important." Road answered.

The Countess nodded. "Road is right. I'm sure all of you are feeling that feeling again; certain emotions being intensified and whatnot."

Tyki swallowed the lump in his throat. He knew that feeling. His emotions had been particularly high as of late. He couldn't stop thinking about his human friends…or his previous lover…

"I believe the Noah of Passion is being reincarnated once more." The Countess explained. "And you can save your breath, this girl is not it."

"Then what's so important about her?" Tyki questioned.

Road gestured to Emeillia's hologram. "We think she contacted the person whose Noah genes are awakening. This girl's passion to be loved has driven her to extremes. She kidnapped every man in her entire town out of jealously ever since her fiancé left her. However, she also was given a ring by her fiancé that was made of innocence; so there's a chance that she actually had no contact with Passion in the first place."

Lulubell transformed from a cat back into a human. "Let's not waste our time then. We should go find the awakening Noah or destroy the innocence."

"It's too late for the innocence, Lulu~. Exorcists have already seized it. But, I really do think this girl was a mere experiment for Passion upon awakening. We will be welcoming our new family member into this hellacious world before we know it."

"What should I do with it?" Drek questioned as she observed the chipped off piece of her boot. "That guy we fought called it 'innocence'."

"You mean like…innocence as in…virginity…?" Riche whispered, embarrassed at the word.

The two girls had gotten several miles away from the Noah Lake House already. They had a map, but it seemed to take them in circles; partly because Drek acts on instinct more often than she should. They were following some train tracks and hoping they would lead to a town.

"Why would he call my boots my virginity? That doesn't make any sense." Drek skipped along the tracks like hop-scotch.

They walked in silence for a while before the black haired girl spoke again. "Hey, Drek? Don't you ever wonder what they are; those things that we can destroy? Do you think they're demons?"

"Demons? What would demons want with two teenaged girls? You read too many fiction novels…"

An echoing whistle resounded in the distance. Drek could feel the tracks vibrate beneath her feet. "Well, we found the train…" She leapt off the tracks and into the grass with Riche.

"I'm not holding it, YOU hold it!" Silverton flung the innocence ring at Kanda.

"Don't be a baby," he placed the ring in his pocket. "How can you be squeamish when you're the one who sliced off her hand at the wrist?"

Silverton slouched in her seat. "Well HE said it was enslaving her! What else could I do?"

"I'm sure you could have convinced her to take off the ring…if not, maybe just cut off her finger…" Lavi protested, "Don't blame me!"

"I think I'm going to be sick…" Miranda mumbled and looked away.

After a long and tiresome mission in Rouen, France, finally, the exorcists were returning to the Black Order with the innocence they'd retrieved. They had boarded a train that would lead them back and they were all sharing a reserved room.

Lavi patted the nauseous Miranda's back as he spoke, "So, Silverton, how are you feeling about your first official mission? You saved a lot of lives, y'know."

The brunette slouched and looked out the window. "I almost lost my own in the process." She watched the trees outside the window rush by in blurs of green. _*"I'd never forgive myself if I died before telling them I'm sorry."*_

Drek and Riche walked aside the railroad as the iron horse chugged by. Drek watched the train's windows, jealous of how lucky the passengers were to have easy transportation.

Then, a single passenger caught her eye. Drek's magenta eyes locked with theirs for just a second in time, yet they seemed to be speaking to her in a way.

"What the matter?" Riche nudged her blond friend, who'd stopped walking under the gaze of the passenger. "We need to keep going if we're ever going to find a town, Drek. Let's go."

With a shake of her head, Drek snapped herself out of her trance. "Sorry…I must be seeing things…"

Through Silverton's vision out the window came a sudden blur of yellow and black; two human figures from outside the train. She couldn't exactly figure out why, but somehow the simple blurs of color seemed familiar to her. She watched as they flew by.

"What's the matter?" Lavi's voice snapped her out of it.

She shook her head and replied, "It's nothing…I must be seeing things…"

Drek continued to walk east and thought, _*"Lyssa, wherever you are, I swear I'll find you."*_

Silverton continued to gaze out the window of the train heading west and thought, _*"Drek, Riche, wherever you are, I swear I'll find you."*_


	39. Chapter 38

After the odd mission, the four exorcists had finally returned home. They all entered the corridor at the same time, being met by a bunch of people; Komui, Tiedoll, Bookman, Reever, Allen, Daisya, Maurie, Lenalee, Johnny, and some other scientists.

"I'm so glad my children are okay!" Tiedoll said with a smile.

"Moron, getting yourself captured!" Bookman complained to Lavi with a kick.

"Congratulations on completing your first official mission, Silverton!" Komui exclaimed. Everyone clapped.

Silverton rubbed the back of her neck and awkwardly turned away. She hated having all eyes on her; it gave her chills. "Whatever…" she mumbled as she walked off.

Lavi asked, "Where are you going?" as she continued to leave.

She replied with a simple, "None of your business," before she left.

_*"She's probably going to her room to sleep,"*_ Kanda thought, _*"After all, she never fell asleep on the train ride. Tch, she's too shy around him…"*_ he glared at Lavi. _*"But it's not like I care…"*_

A half hour later, things had gone back to normal as everyone returned to their regular routine. Komui had oddly offered the exorcists some time off, but everyone had a feeling Komui had just lost the mission log in his messy office again.

"Alright, now don't you go messing with those bandages, alright?" The Head Nurse spoke to Miranda as she carefully casted her broken hand.

Miranda nodded her head as she lay in one of the beds in the medical wing. "I won't. Thank you so much for helping me."

"Don't thank me; I'm just doing my job." She smiled and walked out of the room.

Miranda sighed, all alone in the large room. _*"Komui probably thinks I'm nothing but a hassle…All I did was slow everyone else down…"*_ she frowned. _*"I bet he won't even come to visit me here…He has more important things to do anyway…"*_

There was a knock on the door. Miranda's face lit up as she whipped her head around, hoping to see Komui.

"You're open to visitors at this hour, right?" A man's voice asked. He walked in holding a bouquet of yellow tulips.

Slightly disappointed, Miranda mumbled, "Hello, Section Leader Reever…"

Reever walked over to her bedside. "You can just call me 'Reever' if you like. Here, these are for you," he handed her the flowers, and she willingly accepted them. "You feeling well?"

"I'm fine, just a bit lonely in here by myself." _*"I wish Komui was here…"*_

Reever rubbed the back of his neck. "Well then…If you're ever lonely…you can always ask for me."

"But…" Miranda looked away, "Aren't you busy with work?"

"Yeah, but…" he smiled, "I can always make room in my schedule for you, Miranda."

Over the intercom came Komui's voice, "SECTION LEADER REEEEEEEVERRRRRR! COME TO MY OFFICE AND HELP ME FIND THE YOU-KNOW-WHAT!"

Reever laughed, "He means the mission log. Sorry, I guess sometimes work will get in the way…"

"What's the matter with me?" Kanda said aloud in the darkness of his room. The sun was setting, sending its orange glow through his window. He paced back and forth, biting his thumbnail. "This will pass…its only temporary…Just a phase…" He badly wanted – needed to meditate, but the last place he wanted to go was the meditation room. "What if she's there and it gets worse?" He shook himself off. "I'm being ridiculous. This is ridiculous. I can't believe I'm letting this shitty phase get to me…..I'm fucking talking to myself like an idiot!" He kicked over his small trashcan. "Fuck this. I NEED to meditate."

The samurai barged out of his room and rushed down the narrow hallway. His mind was fogged and cluttered with only one thing in mind: Get rid of this ridiculous feeling. Regardless of whether it was a phase or not, he was determined to rid himself of it.

He turned the corner and before he knew it, he was on the ground. He'd bumped into something – someone really, really hard; to the point where they both were on the ground. Kanda lifted himself up on his elbows. "Ugh, watch where you're goi-" He paused when he saw the other person.

"What was that for, eh?!" Silverton rubbed her red nose. "I smashed my nose into your chest…firm pecs, by the way." She laughed.

_*"Damn it, that feeling again."*_ He scowled. He stood himself up and started walking off again.

"Just gonna leave me layin' here? What happened to all the gentlemen in the world?" she pouted.

Kanda stopped and looked back at her. He thought back to when Lavi gave her his coat when she was cold. _*"She seems to be attracted to chivalrous men…not that I care."* _He walked back and held out his hand to her. He made sure not to look her in the eyes.

Silverton was a bit shocked. She smiled and took his hand as he helped her up. "Why thank you, my good sir." She said with a sloppy bow of her head.

It turned out that they were both headed to the meditation room. Silverton had just woken up, what with her odd sleeping habits. They both walked together down the hallway.

"So, Yu, why are you going to meditate? I need to because I keep thinking about my past…It's really getting to me lately." She scratched her head. _*"Especially knowing that Nova's soul is bound to my brain…wait, can she hear my thoughts right now? Well, that's unsettling…"*_

"What about your past is getting to you?" The dark haired man interrupted her thoughts.

There was a long silence before she replied, "Can we talk about this somewhere else? The walls have ears in here…"

Kanda hesitantly lead her down a staircase that Silverton didn't even know existed. They continued to travel downwards until they reached a door. The door opened, letting in dim light and delightful fragrances. "Here we are." Kanda led her into the unique room. "This underground garden was built for the science department's biology studies, but over time, it became more like a sanctuary."

The garden was very unique indeed. There were small streams of water trickling between the white stones beneath the exorcists' feet. Scented candles were scattered about, their tiny flames flickering through the darkness. Different species of plants were in pots and planters, varying in color, shape, and size.

Silverton smiled. "Wow, this really reminds me of Master! He always had plants everywhere. I recognize these candles too. The fragrance they give off is allowing the plants to survive without sunlight."

Kanda sat atop a large white boulder. "Alright, enough stalling. Past. Tell me." He demanded with a straight face.

Silverton kneeled down and dipped her fingertips into the gently flowing streams of water. "Back when we were in France…when I nearly drowned…"

"Keep going…"

She sighed, "Something weird happened. While I was unconscious, I had a sort of odd vision…dream, maybe. It's like I was locked inside my own mind…"

Kanda raised an eyebrow. "And what does that have to do with your past?"

"In the…dream…I saw my sister."

"Nova?"

"That's my only sister, genius. She told me she was trapped inside my subconscious ever since she died. I dunno, maybe I was delusional. After all, I was in the process of dying, too." The girl rubbed her shoulder.

Kanda rested his chin on his fist and tried to think of a reason this would have happened. _*"From what she said, it sounds like she and her sister have some sort of connection through their minds…That might be the explanation for why Nova can take over Alyssa's body, too…But then…"*_ He remembered back when he and Silverton first made legitimate eye contact. "Remember when we first met, how you were fighting off Lavi and Moyashi, but then the Sage walked in and touched your forehead? You suddenly stopped fighting and calmed down, as if he was speaking to you in another sense."

Silverton smirked, "That's because he was speaking to me telepathically. It's a skill every Sage passes down to their apprentice. This, of course, means I can do that as well. In fact, getting into someone's mind and memories is quite easy."

"Exactly," Kanda hopped off the boulder and stood next to her. "Maybe you weren't just delusional or having visions. Anyone with that much mental control could probably pull off a number of things, including telepathically connecting with a deceased sibling."


	40. Chapter 39

"Ugh…my feet are killing me…" Drek complained as she and Riche walked further east – or what they hoped was east. "It's so hot…I'm fucking starving…"

"Quit whining. You ate all the food I brought back from Koven City. That's not an easy task, you know. Quantum Rifts are hard to control. I can't keep using them just because you're 'starving'. I don't even have enough energy right now…" Riche loosened her shirt's collar to air out her sweating self.

Drek grunted and tied her long blond hair in a ponytail. "You could at least go get us a fish or two from the market in Koven…"

"Why? So you can eat my share when I turn my back?"

"That was one time!"

"Twice, Drek. In a row."

"I apologized!"

"Yeah, right before doing it AGAIN!" Riche stopped, "Hang on, I'm being contracted by Krey." The black haired girl activated her innocence, causing a golden scepter to appear in her palm. "Krey, can you hear me?"

From the scepter's top came a projection of hologram in the shape of a man's head. "There you are, Chelieu." Spoke the man. "You haven't left yet, have you? We could use your help at the base."

"Sorry," Riche answered, "I've already gone back to my own time period."

"-without bringing me food!" Drek chimed in, effectively earning an eye roll from Riche.

"Heh, good mood as always, eh, Kale?" Krey's gravelly voice chuckled. "Come ta think of it, you've been acting all pissy ever since you two stopped bringing Silerin with ya."

Drek growled, "Yeah well, that bitch is still missing. When I do find her, I'm gonna give her a serious piece of my mind…"

Krey cleared his scratchy throat. "Well, I'll leave you and your girly issues alone, Kale. Make sure ta come back soon, Chelieu. Out." With that, the man's hologram disappeared and Riche deactivated her innocence.

The girls continued to walk in search of somewhere to get food and shelter. Finally, Riche questioned, "Drek, what did you mean when you said you'd give Lyssa a piece of your mind?"

"Isn't it obvious? I've got a score to settle with her." Drek kicked a pebble with her sore feet. "I don't get why you aren't pissed at her. She just abandoned us out of nowhere!"

Riche sighed, "How can I be upset with her? You and I both know what happened the night before she left. We shouldn't blame her for wanting to get away."

"A letter, Riche. All she left us with was a damn letter. She couldn't even look us in the eyes when she tore us apart." Drek clenched her fist tightly. "I'll never forgive that bitch for leaving us."

"Why are you avoiding my avoiding my question?" Kanda nagged.

"Maybe because the answer is ugly; ever think about that?" Silverton protested, "No one's past is flawless. No one lives a perfect life."

"If you know that, then telling me about your past shouldn't be that hard." Kanda rolled his eyes, "Believe me, there are people out there with worse lives than yours. Quit acting like a child."

Kanda and Silverton were still down in the underground garden alone. The girl kept trying to change the subject, but the young man was more clever and persistent than she'd anticipated. He wanted to know more about her, and he wouldn't let up so easily.

"Tell me anything. It doesn't matter, just shoot." Kanda pushed on again.

The brunette snarled. "Anything about my past? Anything at all?"

"That's what I just said."

"Fine. I'm not a virgin. There's your 'anything'."

Kanda choked on his own saliva for a moment. "Were you raped or something?"

"Nope, I was completely willing. Mostly, I was just love sick, though."

"So then…how old were you?" He stuttered out, half of him not wanting to know the answer. _*"She's only sixteen! What the hell?!"*_

Silverton shrugged. "Why should I tell you, anyway? You said to tell you anything, so I did. Now you're asking for more?" She smirked as Kanda glared at her. "Alright, fine. I was…eh…fourteen…"

Kanda was a bit shocked at her answer. _*"Only fourteen?! How is that not the same as rape?!"*_ He cleared his throat, "That doesn't sound like something you'd even consider. Don't you think that's irresponsible?"

The brunette picked a flower from a pot beside her, "Of course it's irresponsible…I guess being influenced by Nova doesn't help…No, there's no excuse. Look, I ain't proud of what I did. I was just being stupid, as usual. I thought this guy genuinely loved me. I thought that by pleasing him in that way, I was ensuring that his love for me never died. I was too naïve to see that I was just being used to satisfy his boredom." She sniffled. _*"Bitch, if you start crying over that asshole, you're even stupider than you look. Haven't you learned anything?"*_

"So then when did you figure it out?" Kanda rested his chin in his palm, listening intently.

Silverton threw the flower she held onto the ground and stomped on it with her foot. She glanced over her shoulder at her friend to watch his reaction to her sudden outburst. "That's when," She kicked the flower's smashed remains into the streams of water and continued, "I figured it out when he did that to my heart. He never really cared about me. I was just his plaything he could throw out when he was finished…" She felt tears well up in her eyes. _*"Damn it, you fucking bitch…"*_ She took a deep breath to force back the tears and continued, "He only said the words 'I love you' to me one time, and it was anything but genuine. It happened shortly after I…"

"After you what?" Kanda encouraged her to keep going. _*"Why do I even give a shit? She's just some dumb girl…"*_

"He said it shortly after I killed an akuma in front of him." She looked down. "Ever since this innocence imbedded itself within my bones, I've been worried that someone close to me would think I was a freak and abandon me. Ever since I abandoned my own friends, I've been paranoid about my own abandonment. After I showed him my innocence, he spent a day being overly affectionate, as if he was trying to convince himself that he wasn't completely freaked out by me and that we could somehow work it out. No mater, the next day, he told me to leave and never come back…" She pondered on whether or not to continue. "The last thing he said to me was, _'I promise, even if a lifetime has to pass, our paths will cross again someday.'_"

After conversing in the underground garden for what felt like nearly an hour, Silverton and Kanda emerged and returned to their daily routines. Kanda went to the training area. Since he never got the chance to meditate, he wanted to get rid of his weird feelings in a less peaceful, more violent manner; MUCH more violent…

Silverton took this time to wander the halls for a while. She wound up somewhere very high up in the tower, somewhere near the science division. She positioned herself on a small outlook balcony that gave a wonderful view of the outside world. She slumped her elbows over the railing.

"It's nice out, isn't it?" came a voice from behind her, sending shivers down her spine.

She had a feeling she knew who it was already, but she took a peek over her shoulder anyway. Immediately, she yanked her head back around to hide from the red headed prince who was smiling so warmly at her.

"What's the matter?" He walked over beside her on the balcony and rested his elbows the same way she was. He kept his head tilted to face her, as if he was waiting for her to say something. "Hey, I was wondering…would you mind if I call you Liz? I could swear I heard Miranda call you that."

The brown haired girl blew her bangs out of her eyes and slid to the side a little to get away from him. _*"It's Lys, not Liz, moron…"*_ she wanted to say, but couldn't. Not to him. She turned her head as far away from him as possible, to the point where her chin touched her shoulder.

Lavi puffed up his bottom lip into a pouty face. "Why do you do that?" he slid closer to her again, until their shoulders were nearly touching. "You push people away from you all the time. I don't know why you would want to do that…Unlike me, you can genuinely connect with other human beings…Unlike me, you don't have to be so detached…so why would you choose to be?"

Silverton blushed. Detached was a pretty good word for it. She suddenly didn't feel as tense anymore. "Why would I choose to be detached?" she repeated the question, "I guess that's what happens when you've had your heart toyed with." She twiddled with her fingers and continued, "Happiness never lasts forever. Losing it hurts a lot more than never having had it in the first place."

Her last statement hit Lavi much harder than he'd expected it to. She was exactly right. The experience he had at being the bookman's successor has taught him that lesson several times. "You've got a point there…"

He would have said more, but he was interrupted by the spikey haired head of the science division. "It's nice to see you're talking to someone other than Kanda, Silverton." Reever said, sipping coffee from his mug.

Lavi instantly backed off of her, just realizing how close they'd gotten. "Well," Lavi stood confidently, "I guess I just have that effect on people." He said with a wink in Silverton's direction.

A moment later, Bookman yanked the red head away by the ear for not studying like he was supposed to. Reever took his place beside Silverton.

"I saw that," he whispered to her with a nudge.

"Saw what?"

"You smiled at him and your face got all pink. Can't hide it from me."

She smirked, partially admitting defeat, and punched his shoulder playfully. "Well, it's no different than the way you look at Miranda~," she laughed in a sing-song voice.

Reever gagged on his coffee. "I-I don't know what you're talking about…"

Both of them laughed as their cheeks went even redder than they'd already been. The two of them had a decent friendship before, but something about unveiling one another's secrets made them very comfortable around the other. Although not verbally announced, the two decided unconsciously that they would be like siblings form that point on.


	41. Chapter 40

"Is the food all ready, Jerry?"

"Sure is! Don't you look so precious setting the party up, Allen?~"

"Ehe…thanks…" Allen turned to Johnny Gill and asked, "How's the banner coming along, Johnny?"

Johnny saluted the white-haired exorcist and answered, "We're all good over here!"

Allen smiled and looked around at the decorations. Everything was set up perfectly. The tables were clothed and adorned with snacks and punch. The huge banner stretched across the ceiling read, 'Welcome Home, Silverton!' in bold lettering. Everyone in the Order was gathered together. Allen mumbled to himself, "Alright, now all we need is Silverton…"

"But, I'm not hungry right now…" Silverton protested as she was dragged to the dining hall by Reever.

"Trust me; today's cuisine is to die for. You'll love it!" the man reassured as he lightly tugged at her arm, leading her away.

"I don't care. I'm not hungry."

"You will be, come on!"

Reever turned the corner. The dining hall was so close by, he could smell Jerry's food. The entrance was visible. All he had to do was get the stubborn girl in there…

"Why are you acting like a moron?!" Silverton was shoved forward by the man, being thrown right in front of the open entryway. "You're starting to creep me ou-"

The girl froze mid-sentence as the entirety of the Black Order all hollered at once, "Welcome home, Silverton!"

It was silent for a long awkward moment; silent enough to hear a cricket chirp. Silverton went pale a second before she darted away.

Everyone stood there baffled. They weren't exactly expecting that reaction, since no one had ever fled from their welcoming party before. They were confused and panicking a bit.

"Not to worry, everyone!" Komui sang, "I thought something like this may happen! ~"

Silverton took off down the corridor like a bat out of hell. _*"Ohmygodohmygodsurprisepartyohmygod!"*_ her thoughts jumbled together. She always had a dread of surprise parties, ever since a situation on her eighth birthday that involved an ugly incident with a clown. There was no way in hell she was going to-

"TARGET CONFIRMED," came a robotic voice from just ahead. The frantic girl skid to a halt as she eyed the massive robot in front of her. "IDENTITY CONFIRMED. MISSION: ESCORT TARGET TO ASSIGNED WAYPOINT. WAYPOINT LOCATION: DINING HALL. EXPECTING RESSISTANCE."

Silverton's heart dropped. "Oh shit…!" She didn't know what made her more nervous; the robot or the clown.

Sir Komlin's mechanical arms whipped out and flew towards her. She quickly made a run for it, trying to go underneath it. Komlin swiveled and began chasing her; its large mechanical legs shaking the stone floor with every step. "RESISTANCE IS FUTILE."

Back in the dining hall, loud crashes and booms could be heard from the hallway. Everyone's eyes centered on Komui, who casually bit into a cheese square like nothing was happening.

Reever face-palmed. "You didn't. Tell me you didn't…"

Lenalee suddenly pranced in and looked around. "Sorry I'm late! Where is she?" Lenalee snarled at the banner._ *"Man, and I went to all this trouble. I even wore makeup and like, the cutest skirt I own…"* _The green haired girl twiddled her fingers. _*"This feels…wrong…Why do I feel like I have to upstage her? I've never felt like this before…"*_

Allen sighed, "She WAS here…but uh…"

Kanda growled, "Damn brat…"

"Who?" Daisya questioned, hearing the samurai's cursing, "Who's the brat? Lenalee?"

"No. The other brat." He rubbed his temple. "I actually bothered to show up and she just leaves…Damn it!" he pictured the slightly horrified face she wore when she'd walked in. The way her cheeks went pink and the rest of her went pale…Now he felt something really odd. He felt it earlier, but not this strongly. It was as if his heart was squeezing in his chest._ *"Maybe I should see a doctor about this…"*_ he thought, gripping his shirt over is heart. _*"I've never felt like this before…"*_

Lavi patted Kanda on his back firmly, waking him from his daydream. "Either way, her reaction was certainly quite cute, wasn't it?" the redhead chimed delightfully.

"Uh-oh! Looks like Kanda's got some competition!" Daisya's obnoxious voice resounded fairly loudly. "Whatcha gonna do? Don't want Lavi stealin' your woman; do ya, Kan-DUGH!" Daisya spit out as Kanda elbowed him in the gut.

Minutes passed and Silverton was still on the move. She didn't know where to go. Obviously not the meditation room or her bedroom, since the huge robot would break in and destroy the place. This made her consider Lenalee's room, except that she had no idea where that was. She found herself dashing into the empty science department with Komlin not far behind.

Silverton leapt over a crowded desk before diving beneath another._ *"Certainly the science department wouldn't allow their own robot to destroy their work, right? Then again, they hate their jobs…that would make a good time-off excuse…fuck…"*_

The robot barged in and scanned the room for her. It made some odd beeping noises and then stated, "LAST RESORT, INITIATED."

_*"Last resort? That sounds bad…"*_ Suddenly, Silverton began coughing. Her head felt both heavy and weightless at the same time and so did her limbs. She tried to hold her breath, but it was far too late. _*"…Knock…out…gas…?"* _Quickly, her world fell black.

"I wonder what's taking so long…" Komui whined as he checked his silver watch. A menacing grin stretched across his face. "I programmed Sir Komlin to initiate a last resort tactic if his mission wasn't complete within ten minutes! She should be here any second now! ~"

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that, Chief…" said Reever.

Not long afterwards, the loud crashes and thuds from the robot could be heard just outside the hall. Before they knew it, the robot stopped just outside the doorway before spitting out the unconscious brunette.

"GAH! Chief, what did you do?!" Reever exclaimed as he and several others ran to her side. "Open your eyes!" he begged – over dramatically – as he shook Silverton in his arms.

The girl quietly groaned as she opened her eyes ever so slowly.

"Silverton? Are you okay?" Reever asked her as he noticed her awakening.

The room went silent as everyone watched what happened next. No one could; or even wanted to; believe their eyes. Everyone's jaws dropped simultaneously as they watched the young girl lift her hand and weave her fingers through Reever's spikey hair before pulling him down and locking her lips with his.


End file.
